Chemical Composition and Evaluation of Insecticidal Activity of Calendula incana subsp. maritima and Laserpitium siler subsp. siculum Essential Oils against Stored Products Pests

Abstract

The problems of the environment and human health related to the use of synthetic and broad-spectrum insecticides have increasingly motivated scientific research on different alternatives and among these, the use of green systems, such as essential oils, have been explored. Several species of the Apiaceae and Asteraceae families, aromatic herbs rich in secondary bioactive metabolites, are used in the industrial field for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food purposes. Different essential oils extracted from some species of these families have shown acute toxicity and attractive and/or repellent effects towards different insects. In our work, we investigated the toxic potential of Calendula incana subsp. maritima and Laserpitium siler subsp. siculum essential oils against four insect species, Sitophilus oryzae, Lasioderma serricorne, Necrobia rufipes, and Rhyzoperta dominica, which are common pests of stored products. The composition of both oils, extracted by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of the two plants, was evaluated by GC×GC-MS. Calendula incana subsp. maritima essential oil was rich in oxygenated sesquiterpenoids, such as cubebol (35.39%), 4-epi-cubebol (22.99%), and cubenol (12.77%), while the Laserpitium siler subsp. siculum essential oil was composed mainly of monoterpene hydrocarbons, such as β-phellandrene (42.16%), limonene (23.87%), and β-terpinene (11.80%). The toxicity Petri dish bioassays indicated that C. maritima oil killed a mean of 65.50% of S. oryzae and 44.00% of R. dominica adults, indicating a higher biocidal activity in comparison with L. siculum oil, while toward the other species, no significant differences in mortality were recorded. Calendula maritima oil could be, then, considered a promising candidate for further tests as an alternative biocide toward S. oryzae and R. dominica. The possibility that the relatively high content of oxygenated sesquiterpenoids in C. maritima essential oil determines its higher biocidal activity is discussed.

Terpenes of the Essential Oil from Ipomoea alba Leaf in Response to Herbivore and Mechanical Injuries

“…A great number of compounds have been identified for essential oil from I. alba leaves in response to abiotic stress (cumene, α-ylangene, β-panasinsene, β-funebrene, aromadendrene, cubenol and sclareolide). Sesquiterpene α-ylangene has been identified in some essential oils of plants with diverse biological activities, but only as a minor compound [28] . Essential oil of Eucalyptus globulus has been reported to have insecticidal activity against insecticidal on Acanthoscelides obtectus adults as well as against the red mite Dermanyssus gallinae; some terpenes, including aromadendrene, have been associated with Retention indices from the literature c Composition: total area percentages given as mean ± SD (n = 3).…”

Chemical Compositions and Antioxidant Activities of Essential Oils, and Their Combinations, Obtained from Flavedo By-Product of Seven Cultivars of Sicilian Citrus aurantium L.

“…Analyses of EOs and their mixes were performed according to the procedure reported by Basile et al [ 40 ]. EO analysis was performed using an Agilent 7000 C GC (Agilent Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, CA, USA) system, fitted with a fused silica Agilent DB-5 MS capillary column (30 m × 0.25 mm i.d.…”

Reuse of Food Waste: The Chemical Composition and Health Properties of Pomelo (Citrus maxima) Cultivar Essential Oils

“…The extraction of EOs was performed according to Basile et al [ 50 ]. Variable quantities of flavedos of P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5 (47–121 g) were subjected to hydro-distillation for 3 h using Clevenger’s apparatus [ 51 ] to obtain the oils with yields of 0.73%, 1.03%, 0.62%, 0.35%, and 0.47% (v/w), respectively.…”