There is an increasing need for the discovery of reliable and eco-friendly pesticides and natural plant-derived products may play a crucial role as source of new active compounds. In this research, a lipophilic extract of Onosma visianii roots extract containing 12% of shikonin derivatives demonstrated significant toxicity and inhibition of oviposition against Tetranychus urticae mites. Extensive chromatographic separation allowed the isolation of 11 naphthoquinone derivatives that were identified by spectral techniques and were tested against Tetranychus urticae. All the isolated compounds presented effects against the considered mite and isobutylshikonin (1) and isovalerylshikonin (2) were the most active, being valuable model compounds for the study of new anti-mite agents.

Crop Research Institute Drnovska 507 161 06 Prague 6 Czech Republic

Department of Agriculture Food and Environment University of Pisa via del Borghetto 80 56124 Pisa Italy

Department of Botany Institute of Biology and Ecology Faculty of Science P J Šafárik University Mánesova 23 04154 Košice Slovakia

Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova Via Marzolo 35121 Padova Italy

School of Pharmacy University of Camerino Via Sant'Agostino 1 62032 Camerino Italy

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