Fruit fly attractant activity of Indonesian native ruku-ruku (Ocimum sanctum, L.) and selasih ungu (Ocimum canum, Sims.) essential oil formulated with virgin coconut oil (VCO)

Abstract

Ruku-ruku (Ocimum sanctum, L.) and selasih ungu (Ocimum canum, Sims.) were local types of basils (Ocimum basilicum, L.) found in Indonesia. They exhibited a good fruit fly attractant activitiy as they contained a specific chemical known as methyl eugenol. Fruit fly often pointed out to responsible for damage of some agricultural products such as melon and chili in local districts. This paper was to show the effects of addition of virgin coconut oil (VCO) on oil-based trapper in reducing the population of fruit fly and as part of pest control to the local farmer that synthetic pesticide utilization was remarkably high. Essential oil of each species of purple basils obtained from aerial part of plants and conducted by steam distillation. Each essential oil of purple basils was formulated with VCO in several ratio depending on the methyl eugenol contain that obtained from GCMS analysis with total volume 1.0 – 1.5 mL of liquid bait. Fruit fly trapper (FFT) was made from yellow color plastic bottles and placed at 1.0 m of height on the specific level of farm. In this research, FFT bait consisted of VCO formulated essential oil of ruku-ruku (Ocimum sanctum, L.) (REO-VCO) was placed on the melon farm and selasih ungu (Ocimum canum, Sims.) (SEO-VCO) on chili farm. GC-MS analysis indicated the methyl eugenol content of ruku-ruku essential oil (REO) was 61.08 % (22722553 in.peak area respectively) while methyl eugenol content of selasih ungu essential oil (SEO) was 53.44 % (36377188 in.peak area respectively). From the field study analysis and observation showed that the addition of VCO increasing the attractancy activity of the essential oils regarding of the essential oil itself. REO-VCO (618 trapped fruit flies; 200 male) showed higher activity compared to SEO-VCO (114 trapped fruit flies; 39 male). All formulated essential oils were effectively attract for female fruit fly dominantly.