Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » Natural Products Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #334175
Research Project: Green Biopesticides: Identification

Location: Natural Products Utilization Research

Title: Mosquitocidal activity of extracts from Ammi visnaga (Apiaceae) seeds

Author
item Meepagala, Kumudini
item ESTEP, ALDEN - Navy Entomology Center Of Excellence
item Becnel, James

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/2016
Publication Date: 11/3/2016
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/5695340
Citation: Meepagala, K.M., Estep, A.S., Becnel, J.J. 2016. Mosquitocidal activity of extracts from Ammi visnaga (Apiaceae) seeds. Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment. 5:170-178.

Interpretive Summary: Plants in the Apiaceae family are known to possess insecticidal compounds. As part of our continuous efforts in search for mosquito control compounds from natural sources, ethyl acetate extract of Ammi vianaga seeds was investigated. Two compounds known as khellin and visnagin were isolated and identified that showed larvicide activity on Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae. Khellin is the major compound in the seeds of Ammi visnaga and thus ethyl acetate extract of these seeds has the potential to be used as a pesticide in controlling mosquito larvae.

Technical Abstract: Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are responsible for transmission of many viral diseases, such as Zika fever, dengue fever, yellow fever, and chikungunya. Emergence of resistance to currently used pesticides among mosquitoes has increased the importance for the search for novel mosquito control agents. Natural products, particularly plant and microbe derived secondary metabolites, are good sources in the search for such compounds. Ammi visnaga (Lam.) Lamarck is a plant in the Apiaceae family native to North Africa, Europe, and Asia. Plants in the Apiaceae family are known to possess insecticidal compounds. In the search for environmentally benign and effective insecticides as part of an ongoing joint effort between the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and the DWFP (Deployed War Fighter Protection) program sponsored by the Department of Defense, we have investigated ethyl acetate extract of A. visnaga seeds. Two furanochromones known as khellin and visnagin that exhibited larvicide activity against Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the seeds by bioassay-guided fractionation. This is the first report of mosquito larvicidal activity of khellin and visnagin.