Effect of plumbagin on midgut amylase in Dysdercus cingulatus Fab.(Heteroptera: Pyrrochorridae) 

Abstract

India has an agro-based economy where there is a constant struggle between using pesticides and maintaining healthy crop yield. Often, the use of pesticides takes a priority to achieve a good quantity of crop yield. This has now triggered a renewed interest in assessing the role of natural products in insect growth regulation. Naphthoquinone Plumbagin is one such natural compound extracted from Plumbago spp. In the current study, the role of Plumbagin in interfering with the amylase activity was assessed. The assay was done using the DNSA reagent. It was found that as the activity of amylase decreased with the progressive increase in the dose and duration of treatment