Avaliação da atividade larvicida de crescentia cujete (Cuité) frente ao Aedes aegypti L. (Culicidae).

Abstract

Crescentia cujete (Cuité) is a Bignoniaceae family tree has medium sized (approx. 12 meters). It is a native of tropical America and grows wild in Mexico in several Central American. Like many other species of plants that are used in folk medicine, it has also aroused great interest as a source of new biologically active compounds and the possible structures which could provide the development of new drugs.Dengue is characterized as an acute infectious disease, and may take severe and lethal forms, which is worrying the health authorities around the world and is considered a serious public health problem. It is transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes aegypti, specifically by the bite of infected female mosquito and are currently known four serotypes, antigenically distinct: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4. Therefore the study aims to analyze the larvicidal activity of Crescentia cujete against dengue mosquito larvae, which proves to be an alternative to control this pest, which is considered a public health problem. The extraction process of the present compounds in the leaves, bark and fruit Cuité was performed employing the hydrodistillation method, using the Clevenger apparatus and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the analysis of chemical constituents of essential oil study. The sheet presented as the major constituent Phytol (54.54%) and 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid (13.79%). The bark had as the major compound hexadecanoic acid (57.59%). In the present study the Cuité showed no larvicidal activity in any of its constituents, which was not expected, since Crescentia cujete is known to have toxic characteristics of and could be an alternative to combat the larvae. Further studies assigned to the essential oil chemical composition of Crescentia cujete and a new research larvicidal action of the fruit at different stages of maturity should be performed.