Molluscicidal effect of garlic bulb and ginger rhizome crude water extract against Oncomelania sp. snail

Abstract

The genus Oncomelania snails are intermediate hosts for the human parasitic worm Schistosoma japonicum, whereas adult schistosomes infect humans the most. It is critical to keep these medically important organisms under control. These organisms’ developmental stages are ideal for molluscicidal testing. The researchers used dose-response modelling and Probit analysis to assess the molluscicidal potential of crude water extracts from locally available plants (garlic bulb and ginger rhizome). The researchers ran assays in quadruplicate for each test concentration in four trials with five snails. Each test concentration was paired with its corresponding negative control. The results showed that the treatments caused mortality over time, with snail mortality varying by hour of exposure. The ginger rhizome crude water extract with a concentration of 2000 ppm had a higher molluscicidal activity against Oncomelania sp. snails (45% dead snails) exposed for 24 hours, whereas garlic bulb crude water with 600 ppm and garlic-ginger mixture with 2000 ppm extract exhibited the same moderate activity against Oncomelania sp. snails (40% dead snails). The LC50 and LC90 values of crude water extract of ginger rhizome were 3581.580 and 13636790.706 ppm, respectively, and 194.728 ppm and 0.657 ppm for garlic bulb. These findings suggest that garlic bulb and ginger rhizome crude water extracts have molluscicidal effect against Oncomelania sp. snails. The findings of this study have important implications for the future use of garlic bulb and ginger rhizome as a replacement for synthetic molluscicides.