1.

Our findings showed that the crude extract of Clitoria ternatea flower bioactive molecules is
effective and may be developed as biolarvicide for Aedes mosquito vector control. Furthermore,
this study also provided a baseline understanding for future research work in the field of
applications of Clitoria ternatea flower extracts for their long-term effects on human health such
as a food additive, antioxidant, and cosmetic.

The results of this study have shown that the phytochemical compounds extracted from C.
ternatea flower may have innovative and integrated property of a bio insecticidal agent. Thus, this study
intends to highlight the role of the extract as an alternative control measure against Aedes when
compared to the synthetic insecticides.

Thus, it can be concluded that plant-based insecticides possess lesser residual activity compared to
synthetic chemicals. Additionally, the C. ternatea plant extracts did not possess any toxic effects on fish.

Thus, the use of C. ternatea extract is not toxic for the environment and it is safer to be applied
compared to chemical application in controlling Aedes larvae.

Darvin R. Ravindran, Madhuri Bharathithasan, Patmani Ramaiah, Mohd Sukhairi Mat Rasat, Dinesh
Rajendran, Shakila Srikumar, Intan H. Ishak, Abd Rahman Said, Rajiv Ravi, Mohamad Faiz Mohd
Amin, "Chemical Composition and Larvicidal Activity of Flower Extracts from Clitoria
ternatea against Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae)", Journal of Chemistry, vol. 2020, Article
ID 3837207, 9 pages, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3837207

2. …ultra-stable macrocyclic peptides that are present in all tissues of this plant. The latter are
potent insecticidal molecules and are implicated as the bioactive agents in a plant extract used
commercially as an insecticide.

Detrimental effects of the extract against beneficial insects were not observed (Mensah et al., 2015),
suggesting that C. ternatea extracts could provide the basis for eco-friendly natural insecticides.

Here we have attempted to provide a comprehensive and multidisciplinary account of the diverse
properties and applications of C. ternatea and its constituent molecules. The plant is readily grown in a
range of habitats and there is wide opportunity for it to be used for rotational cropping to aid in soil
nitrogen regeneration, as a fodder crop for cattle, or as source of novel phytochemicals. There are
already a host of cosmetic and food colorants on the market and the first C. ternatea based insecticide
(Sero-X®) is also approved and being used for insect control on cotton and macadamia nut crops. The
butelase-1 enzyme derived from C. ternatea pods is also creating a lot of interest as a biotechnological
tool for peptide ligation and cyclization.

We anticipate that the success of products (including enzymes, extracts, and purified phytochemicals)
deriving from C. ternatea will encourage more research on this plant and stimulate further discoveries
that might lead to second and third generation products. For example, so far only a small fraction of the
more than 70 cyclotides in this plant have been tested for pesticidal activity and there may be
components in this cocktail of cyclotides that are significantly more potent as pesticides than what is
currently known. Further work is needed to understand the biotic and abiotic factors that modulate the
production of individual cyclotides in this plant and to understand possible synergies between different
cyclotides and between cyclotides and non-cyclotide components.
We also anticipate that there will be more studies in the future on pharmaceutical applications of C.
ternatea components. The ability to harvest large amounts of plant material means that one of the
limitations encountered in many natural product research and commercialization (i.e., lack of source
material) is not a factor for C. ternatea. While the multitude of medicinal applications reported so far
from various C. ternatea preparations are impressive, we caution that many of these are one-off studies
that have yet to be independently validated by groups other than the original reporting group. It is to be
expected that the claims for the various bioactivities of plant extracts need to be tested with rigorous
controls to establish the efficacy of the plant components. Furthermore, very few of the cyclotides in C.
ternatea have been screened for medicinal applications and we feel this would be a useful exercise for
future studies. Likewise, none of the C. ternatea cyclotides have yet been used as molecular grafting
frameworks to introduce new desired pharmaceutical activities as has been done for cyclotides from
other plants such as kalata B1 or MCoTI-II. With these suggestions for future work on this fascinating
plant we feel that many more exciting discoveries are on the horizon.

AUTHOR=Oguis Georgianna K., Gilding Edward K., Jackson Mark A., Craik David J.

TITLE=Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea), a Cyclotide-Bearing Plant With Applications in Agriculture and

Citation: Oguis GK, Gilding EK, Jackson MA and Craik DJ (2019) Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea), a
Cyclotide-Bearing Plant With Applications in Agriculture and Medicine. Front. Plant Sci. 10:645. doi:
10.3389/fpls.2019.00645

Received: 15 January 2019; Accepted: 29 April 2019;

3. Larvicidal activity of Saraca indica, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, and Clitoria ternatea extracts

Mathew, N., Anitha, M.G., Bala, T.S.L. et al. Larvicidal activity of Saraca indica, Nyctanthes arbor-
tristis, and Clitoria ternatea extracts against three mosquito vector species. Parasitol Res 104, 1017–
1025 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-1284-x

Abstract

Screening of natural products for mosquito larvicidal activity against three major mosquito
vectors Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles stephensi resulted in the identification of
three potential plant extracts viz., Saraca indica/asoca, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, and Clitoria ternatea for
mosquito larval control. In the case of S. indica/asoca, the petroleum ether extract of the leaves and the
chloroform extract of the bark were effective against the larvae of C. quinquefasciatus with respective
LC50 values 228.9 and 291.5 ppm. The LC50 values of chloroform extract of N. arbor-tristis leaves were
303.2, 518.2, and 420.2 ppm against A. aegypti, A. stephensi, and C. quinquefasciatus, respectively. The
methanol and chloroform extracts of flowers of N. arbor-tristis showed larvicidal activity against larvae
of A. stephensi with the respective LC50 values of 244.4 and 747.7 ppm. Among the methanol extracts
of C. ternatea leaves, roots, flowers, and seeds, the seed extract was effective against the larvae of all
the three species with LC50 values 65.2, 154.5, and 54.4 ppm, respectively, for A. stephensi, A. aegypti,
and C. quinquefasciatus. Among the three plant species studied for mosquito larvicidal activity, C.
ternatea was showing the most promising mosquito larvicidal activity. The phytochemical analysis of
the promising methanolic extract of the seed extract was positive for carbohydrates, saponins,
terpenoids, tannins, and proteins. In conclusion, bioassay-guided fractionation of effective extracts may
result in identification of a useful molecule for the control of mosquito vectors.

Original article

4. Antimicrobial and insecticidal protein isolated from seeds of Clitoria ternatea, a tropical
forage legume

Author links open overlay panelSegenetKelemuCésarCardonaGustavoSegura

Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), A.A. 6713 Cali, Colombia

Received 29 March 2004, Accepted 29 October 2004, Available online 21 December 2004.

plants defend themselves from pathogens and insect pests by a variety of ways, including the
production of many proteins with antimicrobial and/or insecticidal properties. Seeds of
both monocots and dicots contain various proteins whose function is storage of nutrients
for germination and growth. Other proteins in seeds are believed to have functions such as protection
from insects and pathogens.