monoterpene-rich biocidal activity of nanoliposomes containing trachyspermum ammi (l) sprague essential oils against larvae of anopheles stephensi liston, the main malaria mosquito vector

Aim and background: controlling mosquito vectors in immature stages using larvicides is a practical strategy to stave off mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria. developing nanoliposomes containing essential oil (eo) is a promising approach for efficacy and stability improvements of eos-derived larvicides. the main aim of this investigation was to assess the efficacy of nanoliposome (nl) containing trachyspermum ammi (l) eo (taeo) as a new potential formulation to control larval anopheles stephensi liston (diptera, culicidae) mosquitoes. methods: the chemical constituents of taeo were investigated; encapsulation of taeo into nanoliposomes took place. nanoliposomes containing taeo (taeo-nl) with a particle size of 54.6 ± 5 nm and narrow particle size distribution (span < 1) were prepared using the ethanol injection method. besides, the successful loading of taeo was confirmed using attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infra-red (atr-ftir) spectroscopy analysis. results and discussion: the taeo had 13 constituents about 95% of which involved monoterpenes. the dominant component (48.22%) was thymol. a significant difference was observed in the efficacy of taeo-nl and taeo with lethal concentration 50% (lc50) values of 14.09 and 59.47 μg/ml, respectively (p < 0.05) against larval an. stephensi, a major malaria vector in the adult stage. conclusion: this nano-formulation could be suggested as a stable green product against insects to combat transmission of deadly infectious diseases with possible field applicability scope.