Insecticidal Property of Calotropis Gigantea against Papaya Mealybug (Paracoccus Marginatus) on Ailanthus Excelsa

Management of invasive alien insect, the papaya mealy bug, Paracoccus marginatus is of great importance because it even threatened tree species of economic importance. Secondary metabolites of the plants, including herbs and weeds are used as suitable alternative pesticide/insecticide and Calotropis gigantea is one of an ideal plant species for the extraction of pest resistant molecules. The present study focused on the exploration for an alternate ecofriendly plant based insecticide. The bioefficacy of the extracts of the flowers of Calotropis gigantea tested against papaya mealy bug infestation in Ailanthus excelsa found to have insecticidal activity (90-95%) at 2000 ppm within 24 hours of treatment. Individual phytochemical profiling of active botanicals revealed significant variation among pink and white colour flower for tannin, saponins, free fatty acids and alkaloids quantity. HPLC analysis also revealed high amounts of the bioactive compounds such as syringic acid, syringaldehyde and hydroxy benzoic. The insecticidal potential of the flower extracts of C. gigantea may be due to the presence of the individual phenolic compounds which are identified and quantified in significant amount.

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