Curcuma Raktakanda is a Potential Larvicide for Mosquito Control

The leaves and tuber of Curcuma raktakanda were investigated as a mosquito larvicide against the early fourth instar larvae of four mosquito species, viz., Culex quinquefasciatus , Culex sitiens , Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi . The petroleum ether extract of the leaves and tuber exhibited toxicity towards all the test species. The LC 90 values of leaf extract for Cx. quinquefasciatus , Cx. sitiens , Ae. aegypti and An. stephensi were 46.77, 27.45, 58.75 and 45.81 mg/l,respectively. The LC 90 values of crude extract of tuber were 44.88, 29.11, 48.08 and 37.49 mg/l for Cx. quinquefasciatus , Cx. sitiens , Ae. aegypti and An. stephensi , respectively. The crude extract of the tuber was fractionated using column chromatography and the activity of the fractions was studied against the test species. The LC 90 values of the biologically active fraction for Cx. quinquefasciatus , Cx. sitiens , Ae. aegypti and An. stephensi were 18.50, 12.82, 19.95 and 18.19 mg/l, respectively. The extracts were active after storage for one year.