Termicidal properties of wood extractive partitions as a prospective eco-friendly wood preservatives

The quest for the use of environmentally friendly preservatives for protection of wood against biodegradation is on the rise. This has necessitated the research to assess the efficiency of three partitions of wood extractives from Erythrophleum suaveolens and Pterocarpus erinaceus on wood-degrading termites (Macrotermes bellicosus). Three different concentrations (0.00, 0.02 and 0.04 mg/ml) of the plant extractive partitions of methanol, n-hexane, ethyl acetate and n-butanol were used. Saccharum officinarum test blocks were used in exposing the treatments to termites collected from the wild. The trials were laid out as a factorial experiment in completely randomized design, and data collected were analyzed via a multivariate approach. The analyses of variance showed highly significant (P < 0.05) interactive effect of plant extractives, extractive partitions and concentration of extractives on the absorption rate of the extractives, weight loss of the test block and percentage mortality of termites. The results of the study showed that P. erinaceus induced higher mortality (82.36 ± 4.49%); DMSO solvent used for the partitioning recorded the highest mortality (92.56%), while 0.004 and 0.002 mg/ml had significantly higher percentage mortality than the control. Conclusively, from the results, these plants showed potentials in controlling wood-degrading termites.