Abstract
Indonesia has seen an increase and widespread reports of resistance among stored-product insect pests to phosphine. The use of Syzigium aromaticum (clove oil) as an alternative fumigant may be a useful strategy to control infestation by phosphine-resistant varieties of stored-product insects. The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of whole (unfractionated) clove oil as well as its component fractions as a fumigant and repellent against the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum (Herbst)), and to develop a simple fumigant formulation for this purpose. The experimental design used to test the effectiveness of clove oil and its fractionation was a completely randomized design (CRD). Meanwhile, testing the effectiveness of tablet formulations was carried out by factorial CRD. Fumigation test results gave LD50 and LD95 values of 0.234 and 1.142 ml/l respectively, for crude clove oil used in a fumigation chamber against T. castaneum. An n-hexane fraction of clove oil tested under the same conditions was more lethal, causing 95% mortality of T. castaneum at the dose of 0.801 ml/l during fumigation. Finally, tablets containing a set proportion of clove oil and naphthalene (1:1) reached LD91 against T. castaneum after 7 days’ fumigation.
Highlights
Quality of post-harvest handling and storage for durable agricultural commodities constitute a major ingredient of the food security of a nation
The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of clove oil (S. aromaticum) and its fractions against T. castaneum and to develop a simple fumigant formulation composed of any effective fractions
We find that fractionation can increase the toxicity of clove oil against T. castaneum
Summary
Quality of post-harvest handling and storage for durable agricultural commodities constitute a major ingredient of the food security of a nation. The magnitude of stored product losses varies, depending on insect pest species, pest control method applied, duration of product storage, and the security of storage facilities against infestation. Insect resistance to phosphine is a global issue, causing pest control failures reported in many countries (Taylor 1989; Collins et al 2002). New fumigants such as carbonyl sulphide (Desmarchelier 1994) and ethane dinitrile (Ryan et al 2006) have been investigated as alternatives for food and non-food commodities. Phosphine is the only fumigant product that is safe for food and food products
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