Vector Control Activity Studies on the Leaf of Zyziphus mauritiana

The present study was undertaken to evaluate anthelmintic and larvicidal activity of crude ethanolic leaf extract of Zyziphus mauritiana belonging to family Rhamnaceae. Through the preliminary chemical tests it was found that the plant is rich in flavonoids, phenols, steroids and tannins. Pheretima posthuma was used as the test worms. Various concentrations of ethanolic extracts were tested in the anthelmintic screening, which involved determination of time of paralysis (P) and time of death (D) of the worms. Piperazine citrate was included as standard reference and distilled water as control. In the case of larvicidal activity the study was conducted on Culex quniquefasicatus species of mosquito larvae and the rate of larval mortality was calculated. The results indicated that the crude ethanolic extract significantly demonstrated paralysis and also caused death of the helminth especially at higher concentration of 50 mg/ml, as compared to standard reference piperazine citrate. Similarly very optimistic results were observed for Culex quniquefasicatus species of mosquito larvae and LC50 value was calculated as 54.9658.