Phytochemical and insecticidal evaluation of agro-waste of Lagenaria siceraria (Cucurbitaceae)‎ plant against the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae)‎

Abstract EN

Lagenaria siceraria (Cucurbitaceae) commonly known as bottle gourd cultivated in Africa, Asia and now cultivated in Egypt.

After harvesting fruits of L.

siceraria, the leaves of the plants are remained as agro-waste in the field.

Preliminary phytochemical screening of L.

siceraria leaves revealed the presence of steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins and saponnins.

The leaves extracted by ethanol and fractionated via solvents of different polarities; petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and n-butanol.

The toxicity of extracts was tested against the cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under laboratory conditions.

The petroleum ether extract exhibited more activity followed by ethanol, ethyl acetate and n-butanol.

The LC50 were 0.201, 0.352, 0.539 and 0.735%, respectively.

The petroleum ether extract was subjected to saponification reaction and its chemical constituents were investigated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

This indicated that the agro-waste of L.

siceraria plant can be applied as green insecticide to control the cotton leafworm, S.

littoralis.