Systematic Phytochemical Screening of Different Organs of <i>Calotropis procera</i> and the Ovicidal Effect of Their Extracts to the Foodstuff Pest <i>Cadra cautella</i>
Ammar Bader,
Ziad Omran,
Ahmed I. Al-Asmari,
Valentina Santoro,
Nunziatina De Tommasi,
Massimiliano D’Ambola,
Fabrizio Dal Piaz,
Barbara Conti,
Stefano Bedini,
Majed Halwani
Affiliations
Ammar Bader
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia
Ziad Omran
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed I. Al-Asmari
King Abdulaziz Hospital, Laboratory Department, Jeddah 6470, Saudi Arabia
Valentina Santoro
Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università di Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Nunziatina De Tommasi
Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università di Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Massimiliano D’Ambola
Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università di Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Fabrizio Dal Piaz
Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università di Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Barbara Conti
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Stefano Bedini
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Majed Halwani
King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh 11481, Saudi Arabia
In developing countries, crop deterioration is mainly caused by inappropriate storage conditions that promote insect infestation. Synthetic pesticides are associated with serious adverse effects on humans and the environment. Thus, finding alternative “green” insecticides is a very pressing need. Calotropis procera (Aiton) Dryand (Apocynaceae) growing in Saudi Arabia was selected for this purpose. LC-MS/MS analysis was applied to investigate the metabolic composition of different C. procera extracts. Particularly, C. procera latex and leaves showed a high presence of cardenolides including calactin, uscharidin, 15β-hydroxy-calactin, 16β-hydroxy-calactin, and 12β-hydroxy-calactin. The ovicidal activity of the extracts from different plant organs (flowers, leaves, branches, roots), and of the latex, against Cadra cautella (Walker) (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) was assessed. Extracts of C. procera roots displayed the most potent activity with 50% of C. cautella eggs not hatching at 10.000 ppm (1%).
