Bioactivity of Hippocratea Velutina Afzel (Celastraceae) Leaf and Stem Powders as Storage Protectants against Balanogastris Kolae (Desbrocher Des Loges) on Cola Nitida
NJE Vol. 41: 178-190, 2025
DOI.10.36108/NJE/5202/14.0131
¹ODEYEMI, E.F.*, ²ALABI, O.Y. ¹BUARI, R.A., ¹OGUNSOWO, A.O.
¹Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Idi-Ayunre, Ibadan, Nigeria.
²Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
The bioactivity of Hippocratea velutina leaf and stem powders was tested against Balanogastris kolae adult emergence on stored Cola nitida. The quantitative phytochemical screening of H. velutina leaf powder gave the following mean absorbance values: Total tannin (1.6885 mgTAE/mL); Total phenolic (1.8387 mgGAE/mL); Total alkaloids (4.1600 mg/mL) and Total flavonoids (2.0510 mgRE/mL) while that of the stem powder was as follows: Total tannin (0.9135 mgTAE/mL); Total phenolic (1.8395 mgGAE/mL); Total alkaloids (5.0000 mg/mL) and Total flavonoids (1.3797 mgRE/mL). Powders were applied at 5 g, 10 g, 15 g and 20 g concentrations. Data were recorded at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks after treatment application. Kolanuts protected with 15 g leaf powder and stored for 12 weeks had the lowest number of emerged adults (2.00), which was significantly different (p < 0.05) from other treatments. The lowest number of adults (0.67) was recorded from 5 g stem powder-coated nuts, while the highest number of adults (26.67) was recorded from 15 g coated nuts. However, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the number of adults found on untreated (control) kolanuts and all other treatments. The few numbers of adult weevil emergence obtained from nuts coated with 15 g and 20 g H. velutina leaf powder showed it successfully restricted adult weevil emergence which may be due to its higher flavonoid content. H. velutina stem powder did not significantly reduce adult emergence from treated nuts compared with the untreated.
Keywords: bAdult emergence, Balanogastris kolae, Bioactivity, Cola nitida, Hippocratea velutina leaf