Insecticidal Activity of the Leaf Essential Oil ofPeperomia borbonensisMiq. (Piperaceae) and Its Major Components against the Melon FlyBactrocera cucurbitae(Diptera: Tephritidae)

Abstract

The essential oil from the leaves of Peperomia borbonensis from Réunion Island was obtained by hydrodistillation and characterized using GC-FID, GC/MS and NMR. The main components were myristicin (39.5%) and elemicin (26.6%). The essential oil (EO) of Peperomia borbonensis and its major compounds (myristicin and elemicin), pure or in a mixture, were evaluated for their insecticidal activity against Bactrocera cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae) using a filter paper impregnated bioassay. The concentrations necessary to kill 50% (LC ) and 90% (LC ) of the flies in three hours were determined. The LC value was 0.23 ± 0.009 mg/cm and the LC value was 0.34 ± 0.015 mg/cm for the EO. The median lethal time (LT ) was determined to compare the toxicity of EO and the major constituents. The EO was the most potent insecticide (LT = 98 ± 2 min), followed by the mixture of myristicin and elemicin (1.4:1) (LT = 127 ± 2 min) indicating that the efficiency of the EO is potentiated by minor compounds and emphasizing one of the major assets of EOs against pure molecules.

Pharmacological and Therapeutic Potential of Myristicin: A Literature Review

“…Isolated myristicin has led to only 40% mortality. Thus, it is noted that myristicin has insecticide properties for the studied species, but it is enhanced when there is the presence of other components of the plant’s essential oil [ 63 ].…”

Towards the optimization of botanical insecticides research: Aedes aegypti larvicidal natural products in French Guiana

“…During the screening, Piper hispidum Sw. (Piperaceae) leaves ethyl acetate extract was also identified as active, with LC 50 values of 70.5 (CI95% 60.4-81.6) and 54.7 (CI95% 45.9-64.0) µg/mL at 24 and 48 h against the laboratory strain Paea. However, due to the vast amount of existing literature on insecticidal Piperaceae and compounds isolated from Piper species such as piperine or dillapiole, [42][43][44] we did not investigate further the chemical composition of this extract (Dorla et al 2017;Lija-Escaline and al. 2015;Marques and Kaplan 2015).…”

“…Eventually, 8 species led to 11 larvicidal extracts against the Cayenne strain. Among the botanical families hosting these active species Celastraceae(Alvarenga and Ferro 2005;Deepa and Narmatha Bai 2010), Lauraceae(Cuca-Suarez et al 2012;Dias and Moraes, 2014), Piperaceae(Dorla et al 2017;Lija-Escaline and al. 2015;Marques and Kaplan 2015), and Sapindaceae (Diaz and Rossini 2012), are particularly well described for their numerous insecticidal effects.…”

Essential Oil from Vietnamese Peperomia leptostachya Hook. & Arn. (Piperaceae): Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, Cytotoxic Activities, and In Silico Analysis

“…P. acuminata EOs from Venezuela primarily contain (2 E )-dodecenal [ 15 ]. P. borbonensis from Réunion Island contains myristicin and elemicin [ 16 ]. Investigating the volatile oil composition of fresh and dried aerial parts of P. galioides and P. chalhuapuquiana reveals different components [ 18 ].…”

“…inaequalifolia , P. obtusifolia , P. pellucida , P. hernandiifolia , P. acuminata , P. galioides , P. chalhuapuquiana , P. macrostachyos , P. rotundifolia , P. circinnata , and P. serpens, has been investigated in many studies. However, there are scarce studies on the chemical components and biological effects of P. leptostachya [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”