Abstract
In vitro acaricidal activity of
Piper nigrum
and
P. longum
fruit extracts and their active components (piperine for
P. nigrum
and piperine and piperlonguminine for
P. longum
) was evaluated against adults engorged females of
Rhipicephalus
(
Boophilus
)
microplus
using adult immersion test. Three concentrations of each extract with four replications were used in the bioassay. Extracts significantly affected mortality rates of ticks in dose-dependent manner ranged 12.5–95.8% for
P. nigrum
and 29.2–87.5% for
P. longum
, with an additional effect on the reproductive physiology of ticks by inhibiting oviposition (28.1–96.9% by
P. nigrum
and 36.1–89.3% by
P. longum
). However, the acaricidal and oviposition limiting properties were decreased significantly when the active component(s) of each extract was tested separately. However, the combination of piperine and piperlonguminine (obtained from
P. longum
extract) caused 79.2% mortality of ticks which is equivalent to the corresponding concentration (~ 5%) of the extract. It can be concluded that the fruit extracts of
P. nigrum
and
P. longum
had both acaricidal and oviposition limiting actions against the adults of
R.
(
B
.)
microplus
which could make it a valuable component of developing sustainable strategy for integrated tick management.