Comparative larvicidal effect of Pterodon spp. extracts obtained by different extraction methods

Pterodon spp. is a native Brazilian tree species of Fabaceae family, popularly known as sucupira. In the present study, the extraction methods of Soxhlet, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) were conducted at different conditions to recover compounds from sucupira with larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti larvae. The influence of temperature and pressure on SFE with CO2 was compared to Soxhlet and UAE techniques, performed with hexane and ethanol as solvents. The use of ethanol as solvent provided better yields, but lower larvicidal activity. The extraction yields obtained with CO2 and hexane as solvents (non-polar) were similar, regardless the extraction method. Non-polar solvents showed better larvicidal activity with chances of having practical applications in fighting disease vectors. The chemical composition of these extracts presented as major components, trans-geranylgeraniol, germacrene-D-ol and caryophyllene, which showed to be responsible for the activity. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.