Abstract:
Fractions of Acarus calamus oil obtained by vacuum liquid chromatography
showed increased mosquito-larvicidal activity against III instar
larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus from LCso' 39ppm in unfractionated oil to
LCso,27ppm. The unidentified constituent of oil (GLC retention time, 37.65
min) which had the highest negative correlation (r = -0.954) between the
LCso values for the VLC fractions, can be suggested as the major active
principle responsible for mosquito-larvicidal activity. It is possible to
increase the mosquito-larvicidal activity of calamus oil by removing its
major constituent, f3-asarone (84%) which is known to be neurotoxic.
