Chemical Constituents and Toxicity of Essential Oils of Oriental Arborvitae, Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco, against Three Stored-Product Beetles

Abstract

Plant secondary metabolites play an important role in plant-insect interactions and therefore such compounds may have insecticidal or biological activity against insects. Fumigant toxicity of essential oils of leaves and fruits from oriental arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis [L.] Franco) (Cupressaceae) was investigated against adults of cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus Fab.), rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae L.), and red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum Herbst). Fresh leaves and fruits were subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus and the chemical composition of the volatile oils was studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Twenty-six compounds (92.9%) and 23 constituents (97.8%) were identified in the leaf and the fruit oils, respectively. The major components of both leaves and fruits oils were α-pinene (35.2%, 50.7%), α-cedrol (14.6%, 6.9%) and Δ-3-carene (6.3%, 13.8%), respectively. Both oils in the same concentration were tested for their fumigant toxicity on each species. Results showed that leaf oils were more toxic than fruit oils against three species of insects. Callosobruchus maculatus was more susceptible than S. oryzae and T. castaneum. LC50 values of the leaf and the fruit oils at 24 h were estimated 6.06 and 9.24 μL L -1 air for C. maculatus, 18.22 and 21.56 μL L -1 air for S. oryzae, and 32.07 and 36.58 μL L -1 air for T. castaneum, respectively. These results suggested that P. orientalis oils may have potential as a control agent against C. maculatus, S. oryzae, and T. castaneum.

Essential Oils in Stored Product Insect Pest Control

“…Furthermore, investigating the fumigant toxicity of EOs extracted from different plant parts has demonstrated that their toxicity may be deeply altered. As an example, the EOs from Cinnamomum camphora (Lauraceae) and Platycladus orientalis (Cupressaceae) fruits presented an insecticidal activity almost close to zero, compared with that recorded for EOs extracted from leaves and barks of the same plants [91,92]. e synergistic effect of EOs with other compounds may enhance their fumigant toxicity.…”

Volatile-organic compound changes in rose twigs consequent to infection with rose powdery mildew

“…We therefore needed to investigate the constituents of mildew-induced VOCs. In general, a female moth ready to oviposit on a plant can easily find and recognize a suitable (healthy rather than fungus-infected) host plant from the VOCs released by the host plant if the VOC concentrations in the host plant and in the circumstance are high (Costa et al, 2009;Hashemi and Safavi, 2012;Ponzio et al, 2013;Wyckhuys et al, 2017;Beck et al, 2018). The five VOCs shown in Figure 4 were present at high concentrations in infected rose plants and were not produced by the mildew or by healthy rose plants under normal circumstance.…”

Pollination dynamics in aPlatycladus orientalisseed orchard as revealed by partial pedigree reconstruction

“…Platycladus orientalis, the only member of the family Cupressaceae, is native to northwestern China, Korea, and Russian Far East (Cheng and Fu 1978). As a pioneer species, P. orientalis is known for its wide adaptability, resistance to salt and insects (Hashemi and Safavi 2012) as well as drought tolerance (Li et al 2011), thus it is commonly used in ecological restoration projects. Moreover, the species has an outstanding ability to absorb atmospheric and heavy metal pollutants (Chu et al 2012).…”