Chemical Composition and Insecticidal Properties of Essential Oil Obtained from Artemesia songarica Schrenk

Abstract

Artemisia songarica Schrenk is a dominant sand fixation plant growing in the People's Republic of China. At present, there are rare studies on the chemical composition and biological activity of A. songarica. The chemical composition of the original oil was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and 16 compounds were determined. The main compounds were bisabolol oxide II (28.7%), nerolidol (18.6%), bisabolol (12.9%), bisaboloxide A (10.0%), and spathulenol (6.0%). The contact toxicity and repellent activity of A. songarica essential oil and four selected compounds (bisabolol, geranyl butyrate, nerolidol, and santalol) were assessed against Tribolium castaneum Herbst and Liposcelis bostrychophila Badonnel. Bioassays showed that the crude essential oil exhibited strong insecticide and repellent activities against both pests. Santalol possessed the strongest contact toxicity (50% lethal dose [LD50] = 1.29 μg per adult) against T. castaneum. Nerolidol, santalol, and geranyl butyrate showed fair contact activity against L. bostrychophila. In particular, geranyl butyrate exhibited outstanding activity (LD50 = 11.53 μg/cm2). In addition, all of the four compounds did not detect a difference between compounds and the positive control (P > 0.05) against two pests at five tested concentrations. These results indicated that A. songarica and its selected compounds could be used as prospective insecticidal and repellent agents for further development and use.