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PRINT ISSN 1119-8362
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J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage.
Vol. 24 (9) 1541-1544 September 2020
Full-text Available Online at
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jasem
http://ww.bioline.org.br/ja
Effectiveness of Azadirachta indica A. Juss (Neem) Seed Oil in Controlling Wood
Termite
*1
OKANLAWON, FB;
1
ADEGOKE, OA;
2
OLATUNJI, OA;
1
OKON-AKAN, OA;
2
AKALA, AO
*1
Department of Wood and Paper Technology, Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan, Nigeria
2
Department of Bioscience, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author Email: okanlawon.fb@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
The protection of wood against biodeteriorating agents like termite during processing or in service
has call for serious possible approach using new safer, environmental friendly preservatives hence this study
therefore evaluated Azadirachta indica seed oil against termite attack on Gmelina arborea and Triplochiton
scleroxylon wood. The seed oil was obtained using a soxhlet apparatus and N-hexane as the solvent. The wood was
dimensioned into 20x20x20 mm and the seed oil was applied by brushing, dipping and soaking and exposed to
termitarium while the absorption rate and weight loss to termite attack were determined. Data collected was analyzed
using simple statistics and analysis of variance at α
0.05
. The antimicrobial properties of the need seed oil are due to
the availability of phytochemicals which promote antimicrobial activity. The maximum wood protection against
termite of all the methods of application was obtained from soaking. The absorption and weight loss ranged from
11.20 - 43.88 % and 56.50 -61.58 % for G. arborea and T. scleroxylon respectively. However, all the application
methods used for the wood treatment proved to be effective over the untreated wood.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v24i9.9
Copyright: Copyright © 2020 Okanlawon et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative
Commons Attribution License (CCL), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Dates: Received: 25 August 2020; Revised: 25 September 2020; Accepted: 20 September 2020
Keywords: phytochemicals, seed oil, wood species, wood preservation, wood termite
The cause of wood deterioration during its processing
or in service is of great concern to wood and
environmental scientists. In recent time, the damage to
wood has become so high in tropical region that the
use of preservative treatment becomes compulsory.
Though, attention has being shifted from the use of
chemical preservative that increase environmental
pollution and injure the workers. Besides, it has been
duly observed that there are greater potentials in the
use of plant and oil extractives as natural preservatives
as many components of their extracts are very toxic to
organisms imparting decay resistance to wood (Osman
et al., 2007 Amienyo et al., 2007, Kirker et al., 2013,
Tascioglu et al., 2013, Adegoke et al., 2015, Brocco et
al., 2017, Okanlawon et al., 2020). Among all wood-
feeding organisms (insects), termites cause the most
serious damage being an integral component of
various ecosystems in Africa (Nkunika, 2010).They
are responsible for considerable damage in building
structures, attack growing trees, synthetic products,
wool and agricultural crops (Malaka, 1996). The oil
from seeds of tree species to produce biodegradable
chemical capable of prolonging service life of non-
durable wood is a promising approach to wood
preservation. An example of species with such
potential is Azadirachta indica. This study is therefore
aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of seed oil from
A. indica (Neem) against wood decaying termite using
selected tropical wood species with a view to
promoting environmental friendly preservatives.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Seed collection and preparation: Azadirachta indica
seeds were collected from Polytechnic Ibadan,
Nigeria. The Seed of A. indica was peeled to removed
endocarp and oven dried at 103±2 °C to reduce its
moisture content. The seeds were later ground with a
laboratory electric blender.
Extraction of A. indica seed oil: Two hundred (200 ml)
of n-Hexane was poured into round bottom flask. 30 g
of the sample was placed in the thimble and was
inserted in the centre of the extractor. The soxhlet was
heated at 65 °C. When the solvent was boiling, the
vapour rose through the vertical tube into the
condenser at the top. The liquid condensate drips into
the filter paper thimble in the centre, which contains
the solid sample to be extracted. The extract seeps
through the pores of the thimble and fills the siphon
Effectiveness of Azadirachta indica A. Juss….. 1542
OKANLAWON, FB; ADEGOKE, OA; OLATUNJI, OA; OKON-AKAN, OA; AKALA, AO
tube, where it flows back down into the round bottom
flask. This was allowed to continue for 6 h. It was then
removed from the tube, allowed to cooled and weighed
to determine the amount of oil extracted (Adegoke et
al., 2015).
Phytochemical screening of A. indica seed oil:
Phytochemical screening of A. indica seed oil was
done following the standard procedure by the method
of (Brain and Turner, 1976). The seeds were ground
and subjected to phytochemical screening for the
presence and amount of alkaloids, saponins, tannins,
steroids, terpenoids, flavonoids, and phenolic.
Preparation and treatment of wood test block: The
wood samples of Gmelina arborea and Triplochiton
scleroxylon were obtained from tree samples within
Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan. The wood
samples were planed and dimensioned into 20 x 20 x
60 mm (longitudinal x radial x tangential
directions).They were labeled, weighed (initial
weight-T
1
) and dried in an oven at a temperature of
103± 2 ᵒC until excess moisture content was removed.
The methods adopted for wood treatment were
brushing, dipping and soaking method. Small portion
of the oil was poured into 600 ml of beaker and a soft
brush was used to apply the oil. For dipping method,
portion of the oil was poured into 600 ml of beaker,
the wood sample was dipped and removed
immediately while the wood sample was completely
immersed for 72 h in order to achieve soaking.
Afterward, the wood test blocks were drained and
reweighed to determine the percentage absorption
using equation 1.
% =
100…. (1)
%AR = Percentage Absorption, T
3
= Weight after
soaking, T
2
= Oven-dried weight
The treated wood test samples were placed on a wire
mesh and conditioned under room temperature in the
laboratory for 72 h, the wood samples were withdrawn
and weighed (T
4
)
Weight loss: The percentage weight loss of each wood
sample due to termites attack was calculated using the
formula below
% =
100……. (2)
%WL = Percentage weight loss, T
3
=Weight after
conditioning, T
4
= Weight after exposure to fungi
Data analysis: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
used for significant different between methods of
application and wood species. A comparison of the
means was conducted employing Duncan Multiple
Range Test (DMRT) to identify which groups were
significantly different at α
0.05
when the ANOVA
indicated a significant difference among methods of
application and wood species.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Phytochemical Screening: As presented in Table 1, the
results of qualitative and quantitative phytochemical
analysis of A. indica seed oil. The results revealed that
seed extracts of medicinal plant offers a source of
naturally occurring chemicals like alkaloids,
flavonoids, saponins, steroids, tannins, terpenoids, and
phenolic with 2141.7, 1418.3, 43.3, 218.3, 975.0,
826.7 mg/100g and 62 GAE/g. respectively.
Mahmood et al., (2008) affirmed that these
compounds also serve to protect the plant against
infections by microorganisms, predations by insects
and herbivores, while their odor and flavor are
responsible for their pigments. More importantly,
scholars (Haller, 1990, Mossini et al., 1993, Sofowora,
1993, Allameh et al., 2002, Kumar et al., 2018)
reported the biological activity of the neem crude
extracts and their different part such as leaf, bark, root,
seed, etc have been used as traditional medicine for the
treatment of various diseases ranging from the teeth
decay, ulcers, swollen liver, malaria, among other.
Besides, the phytochemicals like alkaloids, flavonoids
and saponins are antibiotic of plants thus act as the
defensive mechanism of plants against different
pathogens (Kumar et al., 2009 and Kumar et al.,
2018).
Table 1. Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening of
A. indica seed oil.
Phytochemical
Composition
Qualitative Quantitative
Value(mg/100g)
Alkaloids + 2141.7
Flavonoids + 1418.3
Saponins + 43.3
Steroids + 218.3
Tannins + 975.0
Terpenoids + 826.7
Phenols + 62.0 GAE/g
Percentage absorption of wood samples: The Figure 1
shows the effect of application method on percentage
absorption of G. arborea and T. scleroxylon wood in
that soaking method recorded the highest absorption
percentage with 11.20 and 43.88 % for G. arborea and
T. scleroxylon respectively while the lowest was at
brushing for G. arborea and T. scleroxylon for dipping
and brushing with 8.2, 38.5 and 39 % respectively.
There were significant variations (p<0.05) in the
Effectiveness of Azadirachta indica A. Juss….. 1543
OKANLAWON, FB; ADEGOKE, OA; OLATUNJI, OA; OKON-AKAN, OA; AKALA, AO
methods of application, and interaction between
periods of method and wood species but not for wood
species as revealed in Table 2. The absorption
increased with different application methods however,
absorption is proportional to the treatment time in
soaking (Owoyemi et al., 2011; Adegoke et al., 2015
and Okanlawon et al., 2020). The absorption of
preservatives by many wood species differs and this
can be attributed to wood structure. Beside,
penetration ability, viscosity of preservative and
chemical composition of the preservative can also
contribute to the absorption of preservative.
Table 2: F-calculated of ANOVA table for percentage absorption
and weight loss
Source of variance Absorption
(%)
Weight
Loss (%)
Methods of
application (MA) 191.55* 464.62*
Wood species (WS) 636.97* 0.00ns
MA*WS 73.19* 3.36ns
*-Significant (P≤0.05); ns-No significant (P>0.05)
Fig 1: Effect of application methods on percentage absorption of
G. Arborea and T. Scleroxylon wood. Mean values with the same
alphabet in each bar are not significantly different (p≤0.05) using
duncan multiple range test:
Percentage weight loss to termite: The percentage
weight loss of G. arborea and T. Scleroxylon wood to
termite explain the effect of A. indica seed oil. It was
also noticed that untreated wood block had percentage
weight loss of 56.50 and 61.58 % while lowest weight
loss were recorded for soaking method at 3.89 and
4.66 % for G. arborea and T. scleroxylon wood
respectively as revealed in Figure 2. The Table 2
shows the significant differences that exist in
application methods of A. indica seed oil to after
weight loss to termite attack (p<0.05). In respect to the
wood block considered for this study, the extent of
weight loss indicated the antimicrobial properties of
the need seed oil may be due to the availability of
phytochemicals (alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and
saponins) which promote antimicrobial activity
(Akujobi et al., 2004, Ogbulie et al., 2007,
Mohammed et al., 2012). Mazhar et al., (2013) also
affirmed that the seed extracts of medicinal plant do
offers a source of naturally occurring chemicals that
could be used as anti-termite. However, number of
studies also has also proved the effectiveness of seed
oil originated from plant to be more effective (Osman
et al., 2007 Amienyoet al., 2007, Tascioglu et al.,
2013, Adegoke et al., 2015, Brocco et al., 2017,
Okanlawon et al., 2020). Convincingly, the
phytochemical constituents present in the seed oil are
very toxic and active against wood termite.
Fig 2: Effect of application methods on percentage weight loss of
G. arborea and T. Scleroxylon wood. Mean values with the same
alphabet in each bar are not significantly different (p≤0.05) using
duncan multiple range test.
Conclusion: The antimicrobial properties of the crude
leaf extract of A. indica seed oil may be due to the
availability of phytochemicals which promote
antimicrobial activity. Hence, these findings provided
preliminary scientific information on the potential of
the seed oil to control termite. However, A. indica seed
oil is completely feasible to be use as alternative
chemical based preservative. Consequently, all the
methods of application proved to be effective over the
untreated wood while soaking method is most
preferred.
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