Powdered Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) Seeds Against Drywood Termites (Cryptotermes cavifrons)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Termites are a prominent problem to Filipinos everywhere -residents and the community in general. Drywood (Cryptotermes cavifrons) termite is a type of termite mainly found on wooden objects. These pests mostly feed on dead plant material and cellulose, which makes wood their primary source of energy and nutrients. Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) seeds have always been prominent in the municipality of Carmona. Its property flavonoids have the potential to be an effective termite killer but have not been tested further. This study aims to discover an alternative termiticide using mahogany seeds.

METHODS

The materials needed were gathered, 2 kg of mahogany seeds, 100 units of dry wood termites, one bottle of commercial termiticide (Termex) and 10L of distilled water. After drying the seeds, these were crushed using a mortar and pestle. One hundred twenty-five grams of the powdered seeds were mixed with 350 ml of distilled water. The product was placed in a spray bottle and stored in room temperature. The mahogany seeds solution was sprayed in a container with 15 termites using the time interval of5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes. The same process is applied using commercial termiticide, and all trials were replicated thrice.

RESULTS

Using the commercial termiticide, the mortality rate of each trial resulted in 15. Thus, the mean mortality rate of the trials is also 100. However, using the alternative termiticide, the mortality rate of each trial are as follows: 100, 73.33, and 93.33, which resulted in a mean mortality rate of 88.89. The alternative termiticide took a longer time interval to eliminate most of the Drywood termites while the commercial termiticide took about five minutes to remove all the termites in each trial. The results showed that on the first 4-time intervals, there was a significant difference in the mean mortality rate of termites treated with the two products. However, after the 25-minute time interval, it showed no significant difference between the mortality rates using the two products, which implies that the alternative termiticide is also active like the commercial product.

DISCUSSIONS

Based on the data, commercial termiticide is indeed effective as it is. It showed its effectivity within minutes after application. Although the mahogany seeds solution did eliminate the termites, it showed its effectivity after 25 minutes. Thus, it can be concluded that the mahogany seed solution can be used as an alternative termiticide, but it is not as effective as the commercial termiticide.