molluscicidal properties of Agavaceae Agave filifera and Agave Lophantha

ABSTRACT

The susceptibility of the fascioliasis intermediate host lymnaea cailliaudi to the toxicity of the boiled water extracts of Agave filifera and Agave lophantha has been to amount, in LC[90] expression, to 11 and 19.4 mg/L respectively post exposure period of 24 hours. The steroidal saponin active consitutuents in yields of 5% and 3.6% in their water exbvocts showed much higher activity than they gave after their isolation from the water extracts. The activity of theses active saponins has been found to be stable under the effect of sunlight, high mud concentration and a wide range of temperatures and significantly increased by increasing the exposure period to 48 hours. The use of water for extraction provides an economic importance and possibly simple technique in field application