Abstract
Simple SummaryThe insect pest, black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), attacks the seedling stage of many field crops in several countries around the world. To control this insect pest, in this study, lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil observed potential insecticidal activity against the second-instar larvae of A. ipsilon.Background: The destructive insect pest Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a polyphagous species targeting many economically important plants. The extensive and arbitrary use of insecticides has resulted in the build-up of insecticide resistance and pesticide residues accumulating in food. Therefore, it is becoming evident that alternative pest management tools are needed to reduce risks to humans, the environment, and non-target organisms, and at the same time, they should be used in field application at the lowest cost. Methods: In view of this objective, the present study demonstrates the toxicity of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf) essential oil (EO), against the black cutworm A. ipsilon under controlled laboratory conditions in terms of measuring the activity of peroxidase and detoxification enzymes. The chemical components of the EO were analyzed using GC–MS. Results: The results show that after 96 h post treatment, the LC15 and LC50 values were 427.67 and 2623.06 mg/L, respectively, of C. citratus EO on second-instar larvae of A. ipsilon. A slight significance in elongation of the larval duration with LC15 and LC50 value was found with control. By GC–MS analysis, the main compounds identified in the EO were α-citral and β-citral with percentages of 35.91%, and 35%, respectively. The oxidative stress indicates a significant increase in CAT and lipid peroxidase enzyme activity after 96 h post treatment at the LC15 and LC50. Conversely, the detoxification enzyme activity shows an inhibition of CarE and GST enzymes of larvae exposed to LC15 and LC50 values in response to C. citratus EO. Conclusions: The present data show that lemongrass EO has insecticidal activity against the black cutworm, A. ipsilon.
Highlights
By 2050, the world population could reach 10 billion [1]
The aim of this study is to verify the existence of a new insecticide against A. ipsilon. From this point of view, we studied the lethal and sublethal concentrations of C. citratus to evaluate the toxicity, and biological and biochemical activities of lemongrass, C. citratus, essential oil on the black cutworm A. ipsilon under controlled laboratory conditions for possible use as a safe method of alternative approach to chemical insecticides within an integrated pest control program
C. citratus leaves from Togo and Brazil showed the presence of geranial (45.2, and 47.52%), and neral (32.4 and 35.54%), respectively [60,61] as main compounds in the essential oil (EO)
Summary
By 2050, the world population could reach 10 billion [1]. As a result, agricultural producers and researchers are fighting to minimize crop production losses due to insect assault. Extensive application of synthetic insecticides led to the destruction of beneficial species such as predators and parasites of the pests, alongside the destruction of honeybees as pollinators, which caused biological imbalance [4,5] This struggle has resulted in increased research into new crop protection strategies that are cost effective, environmentally friendly, and capable of insect pest management [6]. One of these strategies includes new types of insecticide, such as plant-derived semi chemicals [3], and botanical insecticides [1,6,7], which do not interfere with ecosystems [8], instead of the currently used synthetic insecticides for pest control [9]. Conclusions: The present data show that lemongrass EO has insecticidal activity against the black cutworm, A. ipsilon
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