Effect of Curcuma longa (Turmeric) on biochemical aspects of House Fly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

Musca domestica found in every habitation causing nuisance, diseases which results in public health problems. Conventional methods used for fly control caused several problems such as pest resistance, effects on non-target organisms, pest resurgence etc. To overcome these difficulties, it is important to search for new ecofriendly alternatives. In present work an effort has been taken to solve these problems. For this a medicinal plant Curcuma longa (Turmeric) selected for screening its efficacy as biopesticide. It has medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic, antiparasitic, antibacterial, antiarthritic, carminative, Laxative, Tonic, Diuretic etc. Studied biochemical aspects reveal that enzyme activities were decreased to o.22umole/ml/min in case of Amylase while 0.30 umole/ml/min decreased was observed in case of Invertase. While it also decreased carbohydrate and protein content significantly i.e. 9.26 and 22.01 mg/gm body weight. These results conclude that this plant has to be further investigated for developing a ecofriendly insect control pesticides which can used in IPM.