Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Essential Oil Extracted from the Aerial Part of Elsholtzia fruticosa against Ditylenchus destructor

Abstract

The present study investigated the chemical composition of essential oil extracted from Elsholtzia fruticosa, and evaluated the biological activities of the essential oil and its main components against Ditylenchus destructor. The essential oil of E. fruticosa was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC/ MS. Twenty-three components of essential oil were identified. The most abundant compounds were eucalyptol (40.1%), γ-terpinene (15.8%), limonene (9.3%) and β-pinene (5.2%). Essential oil and three major constituents (eucalyptol, γ-terpinene, and limonene) were tested for their biological activities against D. destructor. The results showed that the essential oil, eucalyptol, γ-terpinene, and limonene exhibited a strong effect of suppression against D. destructor (EC50/24h = 0.16, 0.27, 0.36 and 0.23 mg/ml, respectively). The essential oil, eucalyptol, ã-terpinene, and limonene also possessed the obvious nematicidal activities against D. destructor (LC50/24h = 0.18, 0.46, 0.66 and 0.38 mg/ml, respectively). The essential oil and main components described herein merit further study as potential botanical nematicides against D. destructor.