Chemical composition, insecticidal and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities against Parlatoria blanchardi Targ of essential oils from Deverra scoparia Coss. & Dur. dried with different methods

Abstract

Deverra scoparia Coss. & Dur. (Apiaceae) from Algerian Sahara was dried by two methods, conventional (sun, open air) and microwave at different powers (264, 400, 800 W). The essential oils (EOs) were obtained from the different samples by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 32 constituents were identified and the oils compositions were found to be dominated by Myristicin (43.44–69.73%), D-Limonene (6.61–12.57%), Dillapiole (0.74–10.87%), α-Phellandrene (0.47–8.16%) and α-Pinene (4.36–8.10%) as the main constituents. Then, the EOs were evaluated for their insecticide activity against the white cochineal of the date palm Parlatoria blanchardi Targ (Hemiptera- Diaspididae) by the spraying method, thus the inhibition activity of its acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The obtained results showed an important efficacy of the EOs against this insect with lethal doses (LD50) ranged from 2.32 to 6.12 µL/mL. Moreover, the study of the inhibition of AChE showed a strong inhibitory effect against this enzyme, with an EC50 value of 0.002 µL/mL. These results suggest that this plant might be efficient as potential alternative control agents for Parlatoria blanchardi Targ.