Bioactivity of Hydroalcoholic Extracts on Aphisspp in west Indian Cherry

Abstract

The West Indian cherry (Malpighia punicifolia L) is a fruit of the Malpighiaceae family, originating in Central America that has great adaptation in tropical climates that suffers attack of several pests like aphids of the genus Aphis belonging to the Aphididae family. The objective of this work was to evaluate the insecticidal activity of hydroalcoholic extracts of plant species on Aphis in West Indian Cherry orchads. The treatments were: T1: control (distilled water); T2: garlic bulbs (Allium sativum); T3: ginger rhizomes (Zingiber officinale); T4: neem leaves (Azadirachta indica); T5: rue leaves (Ruta graveolens); T6: cinnamon leaves (Cinnamomum verum); T7: leaves and branches of soursop (Annona muricata), with ten replicates. Four newly hatched nymphs of Aphis were deposited on West Indian Cherry leaf discs with 3 cm in diameter, individualized in 9 cm diameter Petri dishes containing a cotton layer moistened with distilled water. With the aid of a hand spray, the insects received 2 mL-1 of the treatments per petri dish. The plates were closed with clear plastic film and stored in B.O.D at 26.0 ± 1.0 ° C and RH of 70 ± 10%. After 24 hours the number of dead nymphs was counted on the leaf disc and off the disk. Hydroalcoholic extracts of neem, rue and cinnamon leaves have insecticidal activity on Aphis spp. in the crop of the West Indian Cherry. None of the evaluated extracts has repellent action over the aphid.