Activity of aqueous extract of Panax notoginseng flower buds against Aedes albopictus larvae and pupae

The insecticidal activity of aqueous extract of Panax notoginseng (Burkill) F. H. Chen (Araliaceae) flower buds against Aedes albopictus Skuse (Diptera Culicidae) larvae and pupae was tested and quali-quantitative profile of principal saponins of the active tested aqueous extract were investigated by LC-ESI/MS/MS. P. notoginseng aqueous extract (35% of saponins/dried plant extract) showed the highest activity both against larvae and pupae at 1.2% concentration (100% of mortality) with statistically significant differences relative to controls at 0.4%, 0.2%, and 0.1% concentrations. The results obtained suggested that there is a relation between insecticidal activity and the presence of triterpene saponins. The application of crude plant extracts, instead of pure triterpene saponins as insecticidal formulation, could find better applicability considering that the purification of compounds from plant extracts would require too much time and cost.