article · Journal of Bioscience and Biotechnology Discovery
Tick infestations reduce the productivity and health of cattle, with conventional management depending heavily on synthetic chemical acaricides. Laboratory testing examined the acaricidal efficacy of Azadirachta indica crude leaf acetone extract against adult Boophilus annulatus ticks, comparing it directly to synthetic alternatives Deltamethrin and Lambda-cyhalothrin over periods up to 96 hours using an immersion assay. Mortality correlated positively with treatment concentration and exposure duration. Azadirachta indica extract achieved the highest bioactive range, reaching 100 percent mortality and outperforming Deltamethrin at 86.70 percent and Lambda-cyhalothrin at 76.60 percent. The lethal time required to kill 50 percent of ticks was 63.66 hours for the plant extract, compared to 76.13 hours for Deltamethrin. Phytochemical analysis detected active compounds dominated by phenols, saponins, alkaloids, and tannins. These results demonstrate that Azadirachta indica acetone extract possesses strong bioefficacy as a botanical acaricide.
Ticks present persistent health and economic challenges for cattle productivity, whilst control strategies remain heavily reliant on synthetic acaricides. Demonstrating that crude neem leaf extract matches or outperforms common commercial chemicals offers a viable pathway toward developing plant-derived pest control solutions that can diversify livestock management strategies.
This research supports the development of plant-derived veterinary treatments for livestock farmers managing cattle tick infestations. Based on in vitro immersion assays using crude acetone extract, the solution remains at an applied laboratory stage. Moving toward commercialisation would require standardising active ingredient concentrations, formulating stable veterinary products, and conducting field trials on live cattle to validate efficacy outside controlled laboratory conditions.
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Tick infestation remains one of the major health problems that affect the productivity and comfort of cattle. The control of ticks mainly relies on using chemical acaricides. Limited information is available on the potential benefits and activity of various neem extracts on Boophilus annulatus ticks. The present study investigated the acaricidal activity of neem leaf extract at different concentrations against adult Boophilus annulatus ticks in comparison to Deltamethrin and Lambda-cyhalothrin. Adult Boophilus annulatus ticks were challenged with serial solutions of different concentrations of both plant extract and synthetic chemical using the immersion method in a Completely Randomised Design (CRD) and monitored for a period of 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours post-treatment. Data were analysed using Log-probit regression and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results revealed dose and Time-dependent mortality and significant variations (P<0.05) among treatment concentrations. Extract of Azadirachta indica was more potent with the highest bioactive range (100%: 6:33±1.64) over the synthetic acaricides (Deltamethrin; 86.70%: 6.00±1.21, Lambda-cyhalothrin; 76.6%: 5.00±1.12). LD50 values for Azadirachta indica, Deltamethrin and Lambda-cyhalothrin are 53.56µl/ml, 22.47µl/ml and 60.0µl/ml, respectively, whereas the LT50 values for Azadirachta indica, Deltamethrin and Lambda-cyhalothrin are 63.66hrs, 76.13hrs and 66.69hrs, respectively. In comparison, the acaricidal potential of the three treatments can be arranged in order of Azadirachta indica (100%)>Deltamethrin (86.70%)>Lambda-cyhalothrin (76.6%). All three treatments showed significant differences (p<0.05) and a positive correlation of mortality with treatment concentrations and time of exposure. Qualitative analysis revealed the presence of flavonoids (+), saponins(+), Steroids(+), terpenoids(+) as slightly present, alkaloids(++), phenols(++), glycosides(++) as moderately present while tannins(+++) as highly present. The quantitative analysis revealed the highest percentage of Phytochemical to be phenol (25.5%), saponins (16.8%), alkaloids (11.3%), tannins(10.8%), followed by flavonoids (5.5%), glycosides (4.8%), terpenoids (3.5%), steroids (2.7%) arranged in descending order of percentage presence. The study revealed a comparable bioefficacy and biopesticidal potential of the acetone extract of Azadirachta indica over the synthetic acaricides and can be utilised as an effective tool for the control of Boophilus annulatus ticks in cattle within the study area and globally.
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DOI: 10.31248/jbbd2025.223
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