Screening of some Nigerian plants for molluscicidal activity

Methanolic (MEOH), evaporated crude water (ECW) and unevaporated crude water (UECW) extracts of 25 Nigerian plants, used for different medicinal and domestic purposes were screened for molluscacidal activity on laboratory-reared Lymnaea natalensis Krauss. Seven of the plants were not active; extracts from 18 (72 per cent) of the plants, some of which are renowned fish poisons, had molluscicidal activity. These were Acacia nilotica, Aristolochia albida, Balanites aegyptiaca, Blighia sapida, Boswellia dalzielii, Detarium microcarpum, Gnidia kraussiana, Kigelia africana, Nauclea latifolia, Opilia celtidefolia, Parkia clappertoniana, Polygonum limbatum, Pseudocedrela kotschyi, Sclerocarya birrea, Securidaca longipedunculata, Ximenia americana, Vetiveria nigritana and Ziziphus abyssinica. The LC50 of these extracts were determined. It is strongly recommended that the toxic effects of these extracts against fish, cercariae, snail eggs and mammals be further investigated so as to determine the right concentration, especially for use in fish ponds.