Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Research
Open Access

Abstract

Toxicity Potential and Anti AchE Activity of Some Plant Extracts in Musca Domestica

Nighat Begum, Bechan Sharma and Ravi S. Pandey

Botanicals are the most promising source and under extensive trials for their biological activity against various pests. The strong inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE: EC 3.1.1.7) is the principal underlying mechanism of action of most of the potential insecticides. Keeping these facts in view, the present study investigated the toxic effects of ethanol extracts of seeds of Annona squamosa (Annonaceae) and Calotropis procera (Asclepiadaceae) in different developmental stages of Musca domestica. L. (Diptera:Muscidae) as well as on the activity of AChE. The third instar larvae of housefly were treated with the different concentrations of all the four extracts by dipping method for 48 h. The LC50 values of the extracts of C. procera and A. squamosa seeds were found to be 870 and 345mgl-1, respectively. The insects were exposed to 5 and 10% concentrations of the LC50 value of each extract along with their control sets to evaluate their inhibitory potential against the activity of AChE. The exposure of these extracts caused significant inhibition of the AChE activity in the developing phases of the insect. The high concentration (10%) of extract from the seeds of A. squamosa exhibited maximum inhibitory effects (56%) on the AChE activity from all the three developmental stages of the insect tested. The results suggest that these plants may prove to be the probable candidates for the development of bioinsecticides to control the population of M. domestica as the safer, ecofriendly and economic alternatives to the synthetic insecticides.