Chemical Composition, Insecticidal and Mosquito Larvicidal Activities of Allspice (Pimenta dioica) Essential Oil.

Arunaksharan Narayanankutty,Rajakrishnan Rajagopal,Aswathi Moothakoottil Kuttithodi,Ahmed Alfarhan,Damia Barcelo

doi:10.3390/molecules26216698

Arunaksharan Narayanankutty, Rajakrishnan Rajagopal + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26216698

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Abstract

Essential oils are biologically and environmentally safe pesticidal compounds yielded from aromatic plants. Spices are important sources of essential oils, and they are widely used in the medicine, food, and various other industries. Among the different spices, Allspice (Pimenta dioica) is underexplored in terms of its biological efficacy and a limited number of studies are available on the chemical composition of Allspice essential oil (AEO); thus, the present study evaluated the larvicidal property, the repellency, and the fumigant toxicity against common pests of stored products of AEO. AEO was found to inhibit the survival of larvae of such vectors as Aedis, Culex, and Armigeres species. Further, AEO was found to exert repellant effects against the pests of such stored products as Sitophilus, Callosobruchus, and Tribolium. Similarly, the fumigant toxicity was found to be high for AEO against these species. The contact toxicity of AEO was high against Sitophilus and Callosobruchus. Apart from that, the essential oil was found to be safe against a non-target organism (guppy fishes) and was found to be non-genotoxic in an Allium cepa model. Overall, the results of the present study indicate that the essential oil from Allspice could be used as an environmentally safe larvicidal and biopesticidal compound.

Highlights

Insects are important organisms that are known to be beneficial to humans in many respects, including nutrition, agriculture, and environmental stability
The Allspice essential oil obtained in this study was 1.02 ± 0.08% in each of three independent preparations
Caryophyllene, cineole, humulene, and terpinolene were observed in the Allspice essential oil (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Insects are important organisms that are known to be beneficial to humans in many respects, including nutrition, agriculture, and environmental stability. Pests and vectors are the most destructive organisms and cause significant health damages and productivity losses. Insect pests cause severe damage to crops and products by feeding on the plant’s parts or the stored cereals and pulses. Are the most common insect pests of stored food materials such as cereals, grains, and pulses. Increased attacks from these pests often result in reduced productivity and, subsequently, a diminished economy [1]. Outbreaks of these pests often threaten global food security and, thereby, produce health concerns [2]. The spread of mosquito-borne disease causes more than 400,000 deaths annually [3]

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