Chemical Compositions of the Peel Essential Oil of Citrus aurantium and its Natural Larvicidal Activity against the Malaria Vector Anopheles stephensi (Diptera: Culicidae) in Comparison with Citrus paradisi

<p><strong>Background: </strong>Recently, essential oils and extracts derived from plants have received much interest as potential bioactive agents against mosquito vectors.<strong><br />Methods: </strong>The essential oils extract from fresh peel of ripe fruit of <em>Citrus aurantium</em> and <em>Citrus paradisi</em> were tested against mosquito vector <em>Anopheles stephensi</em> (Diptera: Culicidae) under laboratory condition. Then chemical com­position of the essential oil of <em>C. aurantium</em> was analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS).<strong><br />Results:</strong> The essential oils obtained from <em>C. aurantium</em>, and <em>C. paradisi</em> showed good larviciding effect against <em>An. stephensi</em> with LC₅₀ values 31.20 ppm and 35.71 ppm respectively. Clear dose response relationships were established with the highest dose of 80 ppm plant extract evoking almost 100% mortality. Twenty-one (98.62%) constituents in the leaf oil were identified. The main constituent of the leaf oil was Dl-limonene (94.81).<strong><br />Conclusion:</strong><strong> </strong>The results obtained from this study suggest that the limonene of peel essential oil of <em>C. aurantium </em>is promising as larvicide against <em>An. stephensi</em> larvae and could be useful in the search for new natural larvicidal compounds.<strong></strong>