Edy Syahputra and Otto Endarto
The objectives of this study were to evaluate the acaricidal activity of 30 tropical plants extracts against citrus mite and their effect on predator and citrus plants. The citrus rust mite Phyllocoptruta oleivora and the citrus red mite Panonichus citri were used as mite test, while Harmonia axyridis was as predator test. Plant materials were extracted with ethanol and water separately using infusion methods. Bioassays were conducted by leaf-residual feeding method. The results showed that some new resources of botanical acaricide screened from 30 plants species. Not all of ethanol extracts screened showed very strong or strong acaricidal activity. Aqueous seed extract of J. curcas (Euphorbiaceae) exhibited the strong acaricidal activity against P. oleivora with LC50 of 0.8%, followed by the aqueous seeds extract of M. elengi (Sapotaceae), P. pinnata (Sapindaceae), and the fruit extract of Br. javanica (Simaroubaceae) with LC50 of 1.06%, 1.29%, and 1.45%, respectively. All of the aqueous extracts assayed could not cause the death of the predator H. axyridis. Aqueous seed extracts of J. curcas and M. elengi at a concentration of 5% could not cause phytotoxicity symptoms on the citrus leaves of Citrus sinensis. Further studies are required to identify active compounds in those active extract.
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