Gliricidia Sepium

Introduction
Gliricidia sepium, often simply referred to as Gliricidia (common names: Cacao de Nance in Honduras; Kakawate in the Philippines, Madre Cacao in the Philippines) is a medium size leguminous tree belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is considered as the second most important multi-purpose legume tree, surpassed only by Leucaena leucocephala.

Background of the study

Gliricidia sepium (kakawate) is a multipurpose legume tree that is used in many tropical and subtropical countries as alive fencing, fodder, coffee shade, firewood, green manure and rat poison. In the Philippines, the extract obtained from its leaves is used to remove external parasites. Gliricidia sepium (kakawate) is also used for its medicinal and insect repellent properties. It is also a fast growing ruderal species that takes advantage of slash and burn practices in its native range.

Rats are some of the hated pest in the Philippines because they feed on their properties like clothes, shoes and more they can also cause diseases like Leptospirosis, Eosinophilic Meningitis, Murine Typhus and more. For this reason, the researchers developed a rodenticide out of Gliricidia sepium (kakawate) tree.

Review of Related Literature
Gliricidia sepium (Kakawate) is a medium-sized tree and can grow to from 10 to 12 meters high. The bark is smooth and its color can range from a whitish gray to deep red-brown. It has composite leaves that can be 30 cm long. Each leaf is composed of leaflets that are about 2 to 7 cm long and 1 to 3 cm wide. The flowers are located on the end of branches that has no leaves. These flowers have a bright pink to lilac color that is tinged with white. A pale yellow spot is usually at the flower’s base. The tree’s fruit is a pod which is about 10 to 15 cm in length. It is green when unripe and becomes yellow-brown when it reaches maturity. Gliricidia sepium led to the discovery of two new triterpene saponins and known aromatic compounds. The new compounds possess as an aglycon. The oligosaccharide moiety linked to C-3 of the aglycon contained two pyranoses (glucuronic acid and xylose)

Methodology
Materials
Kakawate Leaves
Food Bait
Mortar pestle

Methods

The study purported to evaluate the Rodenticidal potential of Gliricidia sepium (kakawate).
1. First, pound the kakawate leaves until it becomes powder and apply it to the bait 2. Second, put the bait with powdered kakawate leaves in some areas where rats come often. 3. Last, observe if the experiment is a success or a failure.