- International Journal of Pure and Applied Zoology (2015) Volume 3, Issue 1

Efficacy of The Ethanolic Extracts of Talinum Triangulare (Jacq) for Control of The Fresh Water Snail, Bulinus Globosus, The Vector of Urinary Schistosomiasis

Phyto- molluscides have received considerable attention in search of safe, environmentally friendly and cheaper alternative to existing synthetic molluscicides in the control of schistosomiasis. Bioassay was carried out using ethanolic extracts of leaf, root and a combination of leaf and root of Talinum triangulare on Bulinus globosus snails that are intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium which causes urinary schistosomiasis. The experimental groups in triplicates were exposed to serial dilutions (160, 320, 480, 640 and 800 ppm) of ethanolic extracts of the different plants parts for three days while the control groups were exposed to water collected from the snails habitat and kept at the same laboratory conditions. The concentrations of all the extracts were mollluscicidal except the lower concentrations (160-480 ppm) of the leaf extracts. Ethanolic root extracts showed the highest potency (125.89 ppm), followed by the combination of leaf and root extracts (316.20 ppm) while the least potency was found in the leaf extracts (1000 ppm). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant variation between the treatments (F-ratio= 28.90 P < 0.05) in the ethanolic leaf extracts. Histopathological examination showed normal cells in the gastro intestinal tissue of B. globosus exposed to the control groups while there were tissue damages like necrosis, disruption of cytoplasm and nucleus, the appearance of dead cells and cytolysis of cells in the treated B. globosus. It is concluded that the plant extracts caused the histopathological damage which led to the death of these snails. Since organic compounds are more environmentally friendly than the synthetic chemicals, these plant extracts are recommended for further evaluation of field trials for the control of B. globosus.

Author(s): J.A. Okete, E.A. Edu E.E. Oku and I. A. Sadiq

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