Chemical Composition and Toxicity against Sitophilus zeamais and Tribolium castaneum of the Essential Oil of Murraya exotica Aerial Parts

Abstract

In our screening program for new agrochemicals from Chinese medicinal herbs, Murraya exotica was found to possess insecticidal activity against the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais and red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. The essential oil of aerial parts of M. exotica was obtained by hydrodistillation and investigated by GC and GC-MS. The main components of M. exotica essential oil were spathulenol (17.7%), α-pinene (13.3%), caryophyllene oxide (8.6%), and α-caryophyllene (7.3%). Essential oil of M. exotica possessed fumigant toxicity against S. zeamais and T. castaneum adults with LC50 values of 8.29 and 6.84 mg/L, respectively. The essential oils also show contact toxicity against S. zeamais and T. castaneum adults with LD50 values of 11.41 and 20.94 μg/adult, respectively.

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric Analysis and Insecticidal Activity of Essential Oil of Aerial Parts of <i>Mallotus apelta</i> (Lour.) Muell.-Arg. (Euphorbiaceae)

“…The commercial grain fumigant, methyl bromide (MeBr) exhibited fumigant activity against Moreover, the essential oil exhibited only 2400 times less toxicity than dichlorvos against the booklice because dichlorvos was reported to exhibit fumigant toxicity against L. bostrychophila with an LC 50 value of 1.35 × 10 -3 mg/l [11]. However, compared with other essential oils in the previous studies that were tested using a similar bioassay, the essential oil of M. apelta aerial parts exhibited stronger or similar level of fumigant toxicity against S. zeamais adults, e.g., the essential oils of Aster ageratoides [13], Murraya exotica [14], Ostericum sieboldii [16] and several essential oils from Genus Artemisa [17,18]. Moreover, the main constituent, β-eudesmol, has been demonstrated to possess contact toxicity and ovicidal activity against diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella [19], and acute toxicity against the common vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster was also observed [20].…”

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Essential Oil of Aerial Parts of <i>Glycosmis parviflora</i> (Sims) Little (Rutaceae)

“…However, compared with the other essential oils in the literature, the essential oil of G. parviflora exhibited stronger or the same level of contact toxicity against S. zeamais and T. castaneum adults. Examples are essential oils of K. heteroclita [9], Illicium fragesii [15], I. simonsii [16], I. pachyphyllum [17], Caryopteris incana [18], Artemisia capillaries, A. mongolica [19], A. giraldii, A. subdigitata [20] and Murraya exotica [21].…”

In vitro acaricidal activity of Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng (Rutaceae) extracts against synthetic pyrethroid-resistant Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus

“…Further, plants with known biological activity such as M. koenigii merit research to explore it as an alternative for the control of parasitic diseases and a potential source of new active ingredients. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous information regarding the acaricidal activity of this plant, although preceding publications suggested its possible insecticidal effects (Devanand and Rani 2008;Malwal et al 2009;Li et al 2010;Senrung et al 2014). This background prompted us to test the in vitro effects of five different extracts of leaves of M. koenigii, against SP-resistant R.…”

“…There are a few reports about the adverse effect of M. koenigii against insect pests (Devanand and Rani 2008;Malwal et al 2009;Li et al 2010;Senrung et al 2014), but to the best of our knowledge till date, the acaricidal property of these plants has not been assessed particularly against synthetic pyrethroid (SP)-resistant R. (B.)…”