Characterization and Evaluation of Justicia adhatoda L. and Its Green Synthesized Nanoparticles for Its Efficacy in Culex quinquefasciatus.

Authors

Vikas Chandra Roy, Prince Leeban Johnwilmet, Rajalakshmi Anbalagan, Jayalakshmi Krishnan, Jefrillah Jebaseelan, Anand Setty Balakrishnan

Published in

Acta parasitologica. Volume 71. Issue 4. Aug 01, 2026. Epub Aug 01, 2026.

Abstract

Justicia adhatoda L., commonly referred to as Vasa or Vasaka, is a significant therapeutic shrub in traditional ayurvedic practice. This study examines the therapeutic potential of leaves from J. adhatoda in treating Mosquito-borne diseases. We hypothesized that J. adhatoda extract and its green synthesized silver nanoparticles may have antibacterial and antilarvicidal effects.
The aqueous leaf extracts of J. adhatoda were employed as a reducing and capping agent for the AgNP synthesis. The synthesized AgNPs were confirmed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), UV-Visible Absorbance Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The analysis of plant-derived compounds in the leaf extracts using methanol, ethanol, chloroform and water showed the existence of alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols, tannins and glycosides. The leaf extracts of J. adhatoda and their silver nanoparticles demonstrated significant antibacterial efficacy against S. epidermidis, a bacterium known to cause secondary infections, in the case of Lymphatic Filariasis, antioxidant activity was assessed to characterize the leaf's phytochemical profile and larvicidal efficacy was evaluated against Cx. quinquefasciatus.
Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols, tannins, and glycosides across the solvents. Both the leaf extract and its AgNPs showed significant antibacterial efficacy against S.epidermidis and acted as a good Radical Scavenging agent. The synthesized silver nanoparticles exhibited a better larvicidal effect [LC₅₀ = 34.38 μg/ml] when compared to the aqueous leaf extract [LC₅₀ = 9060 μg/ml (9.06 mg/ml)].
The findings highlight the potential of J. adhatoda and its green-synthesised AgNPs as an eco-friendly and promising therapeutic agent in the control and management of larvicidal activity against Cx. quinquefasciatus and antibacterial efficacy against S. epidermidis. More comprehensive studies will be carried out to analyze the efficacy of J. adhatoda and its nanomaterial by evaluating the larvicidal and antibacterial activity by conducting in vitro analysis.

PMID:
42541650
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 02 Aug 2026.

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