Ruta chalepensis L. Essential Oil Has a Biological Potential for a Natural Fight against the Pest of Stored Foodstuffs: Tribolium castaneum Herbst

Abstract

Chemical pesticides used against insect pests of stored food have adverse effects on both health and the environment. So, the present study aims to evaluate the insect repulsive and insecticidal power of Ruta chalepensis L. essential oil (EO) from the region of Oulmes (Central plateau of Morocco); the ultimate objective is to develop a biological and ecological control strategy against pests. Thus, the EO obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Ruta chalepensis L. was identified by GC-MS; its repellent and fumigant toxicity effects on adults of Tribolium castaneum Herbst were, respectively, investigated by the preferential area method on a filter paper and the inhalation test. The insecticide power was estimated by determining the percentage of mortality as a function of the duration of exposure and concentration of the EO. The essential oil obtained is characterized by the dominance of 2-undecanone (64.35%), piperonyl piperazine (11.9%), 2-decanaone (5.12%), 2-dodecanone (4.52%), decipidone (3.9%,) and 2-tridecanone (2.36%). This EO is endowed with a very repulsive power belonging to class V, which is strongly due to its majority compound 2-undecanone. The dose 0.038 μl/ml gave a repellent power of 100% after 15 min. The tests also revealed a considerable insecticidal effect, which reached 100% after 48 hours at a dose of 0.62 μl/ml. The calculation of the lethal dose causing 50% mortality (LD50) and the lethal times after which there is 50% mortality (LT50) allowed deducing that the insecticidal effect of Ruta chalepensis L. is time- and dose-dependent. Hence, the effectiveness of Ruta chalepensis L. EO attests that it can constitute a healthy alternative to fight against Tribolium castaneum Herbst.

Usos potenciais de óleos essenciais em remediação ambiental: Uma revisão

“…Os óleos essenciais interferem no sistema nervoso octopaminérgico dos insetos (mas não de mamíferos) e atuam de forma segura para os humanos, sendo investigados por terem ação como repelente, impedimento de oviposição, atividades regulatórias e antivetoras de crescimento (Koul et al, 2008). As abordagens das publicações são voltadas especialmente para: o recomendado potencial de uso de óleo essencial de eucalipto (Eucalyptus citriodora) para o controle de cupim subterrâneo Coptotermes gestroi (considerada uma das principais espécies-praga de ambiente urbano no Brasil) em cujo controle tradicional tem sido utilizados inseticidas químicos com alto riscos de intoxicação da população, contaminação do ambiente e dificuldade de isolamento de áreas tratadas (Mikola et al, 2017); uso de óleo essencial de Ruta chalepensis como alternativa saudável no combate ao Tribolium castaneum (uma praga mundial de grãos) que tem sido combatida tradicionalmente com pesticidas químicos que têm efeitos adversos na saúde e no meio ambiente (Najem et al, 2020); atividade larvicida dos óleos essenciais de Ocimum Research, Society and Development, v. 10, n. 7, e3210716146, 2021 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v10i7.16146 campechianum, Ocotea quixos e Piper aduncum contra Aedes aegypti (principal vetor dos vírus da febre amarela, dengue, chikungunya e zika), indicando-se a possibilidade de cultivo local dessas plantas em áreas tropicais e subtropicais e o preparo e produção em larga escala do OE das plantas nessas regiões para o controle desses vetores ainda na fase larval (Scalvenzi et al, 2019); eficácia do óleo essencial de Piper aduncum contra ninfas e adultos de Diaphorina citri (o inseto vetor das bactérias que causam o "grenning", a principal doença que afeta a citricultura), sendo considerado um produto de baixa toxicidade alternativo para os tradicionais produtos utilizados que causam contaminação ambiental, tem impacto negativo nos organismos benéficos e leva à resistência aos psilídeos (Volpe et al, 2016). Esses e outros dados indicam que os óleos essenciais são relativamente não tóxicos para mamíferos e atendem aos critérios de pesticidas de "risco reduzido", podendo trazer benefícios diversos para a agricultura em diversas situações, particularmente para a produção de alimentos orgânicos (Koul et al, 2008).…”

Ruta Essential Oils: Composition and Bioactivities

“…From the studies on the composition of the essential oils of Ruta species, it appears that these essential oils, unlike many other plant essential oils, generally lack terpene components, but predominantly possess aliphatic ketones and some minor aliphatic alcohols. Based on the studies conducted on the dried or fresh plant materials of Ruta species ( Table 1 ) [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ,…”

“…Linds. [ 10 , 11 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ], and another species, R. graveolens [ 8 , 16 , 18 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ] co...…”

“…More specifically, they assessed their larvicidal properties. In a recent study, essential oil from R. chalepensis growing in Morocco was shown to possess insect repellent and insecticidal properties against the adults of Tribolium castaneum [ 31 ]. It was found that, even at a low concentration, e.g., 0.15 μL/mL, the mortality rate was 55.56% after 48 h of exposure.…”

“…In a recent study, essential oil from R. chalepensis growing in Morocco was shown to possess insect-repellent properties against the adults of Tribolium castaneum as evaluated by the preferential area method on filter paper using the same conditions as those used for mass rearing (30 °C temp. and 70% humidity) [ 31 ]. At a dose of 0.038 μL/mL, this essential oil demonstrated 100% repellency after 15 min, and a dose of 0.031 μL/mL caused 100% repellency after 20 min of exposure.…”