Most cited article - PubMed ID 35956490
Insecticidal Activity of Four Essential Oils Extracted from Chilean Patagonian Plants as Potential Organic Pesticides
In recent years, agrochemical industries have been focused on the development of essential oil (EO)-based biopesticides, which can be considered valuable alternatives to traditional chemical products. The genus Mentha (Lamiaceae) comprises 30 species characterized by a wide range of biological activities, and some of their EOs showed good potential as pesticidal agents. In this regard, the aim of this study was to evaluate the insecticidal activity of the EO obtained from a rare linalool/linalool acetate chemotype of Mentha aquatica L. The EO was found to be highly effective against Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) 2nd instar larvae, Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker) adults, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) 2nd instar larvae, and Tetranychus urticae (Koch) adults, showing lethal concentrations (LC50) or doses (LD50) of 31.5 ± 2.2 µL L-1, 4.9 ± 0.8 mL L-1, 18.5 ± 2.1 µg larvae-1, and 3.3 ± 0.5 mL L-1, respectively. On the contrary, Musca domestica L. adults and 3rd instar larvae of C. quinquefasciatus and S. littoralis were moderately affected by the treatment (LC50 or LD50: 71.4 ± 7.2 µg adult-1, 79.4 ± 5.2 µL L-1, 44.2 ± 5.8 µg larvae-1, respectively). The results obtained in this work demonstrated that various insects and pests could be differently sensible to the same EO and may lead to the exploitation of this plant or its major volatile compounds as novel ingredients of botanical insecticides and pesticides.
- Keywords
- Culex quinquefasciatus, Metopolophium dirhodum, Musca domestica, Spodoptera littoralis, Tetranychus urticae, bio-insecticide, bio-pesticide,
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
This work aimed to evaluate the chemical composition, insecticidal and acaricidal potential of the essential oil (EO) obtained from the resurrection plant Myrothamnus moschatus (Baill.) Baill. (Myrothamnaceae) from Madagascar. The EO bioactivity was evaluated against selected arthropod pests and vectors of agricultural and public health relevance. The most abundant volatile compounds were trans-pinocarveol (37.7 ± 4.2%) and pinocarvone (20.8 ± 3.1%), similar to the EO of the chemotype collected from the same region. Lethal concentrations (LC50) or doses (LD50) from acute toxicity tests were estimated for Musca domestica (L.) adults at 22.7 µg adult-1, for Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) larvae at 35.6 µg larva-1, for Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) at 43.6 µg mL-1, for adults of Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker) at 2.4 mL L-1, and for adults of Tetranychus urticae (Koch) at 1.2 mL L-1. The good insecticidal and acaricidal activities determined in this work may open a new perspective on the use of this plant as a source of botanical insecticide ingredients. The exploitation of this species could also be important for the African economy, helping local farmers cultivating this plant.
