MOLLUSCIDIDA ACTIVITY OF RAW EXTRACTS OF THE SPECIES: Moringa oleifera Lam. about Biomphalaria glabrata (SAY, 1818) (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is an infectious-parasitic disease caused by trematode worms of the species Schistosoma mansoni. One of the ways to interrupt the cycle of this disease is through the control or elimination of intermediate hosts. Chemical molluscicide is one of the approaches used in preventing this disease. The WHO recommends the use of the synthetic molluscicide Niclosamide, however, low selectivity for B. glabrata, toxicity to non-target organisms and the environment. Due to the aforementioned scenario, the search for products of natural origin that are efficient as molluscicidal substances began. Moringa oleifera Lam. belongs to the Moringaceae family, has some pharmacological properties, such as hepatoprotective, antidiabetic activity, carcinogenic, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. The objective of this work was to evaluate the molluscicidal activity of crude extracts in hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, acetone, ethanol, methanol and butanol against the species: Biomphalaria glabrata. The leaves of the Moringa oleifera species were extracted by exhaustion in a soxhlet extractor with organic solvents, hexane, dichloromethane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, methanol and butanol to obtain crude extracts. The experiments were carried out in 24-well plates, using the methodology of SANTOS et al. (2017). It was possible to observe that the crude extracts of the leaves of the species Moringa oleifera showed molluscicidal activity on the species Biomphalaria glabrata. Among the aforementioned extracts, the crude extract in dichloromethane and the crude extract in hexane showed better activity on the intermediate host. The crude extract in dichloromethane showed a lethality of 100% at a concentration of 100 mg/L (p = 0.0372) within 48 h and the crude extract in hexane showed a mortality of 100% at a concentration of 100 mg/L (p = 0, 0418) in 48 h. Despite the concentration not being in accordance with that recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), these extracts present a possibility as an alternative in population control in the vector of schistosomiasis disease.