Acaricidal Properties of <I>Artemisia absinthium</I> and <I>Tanacetum vulgare</I> (Asteraceae) Essential Oils Obtained by Three Methods of Extraction

Abstract

Essential oils of Artemisia absinthium L. and Tanacetum vulgare L. were extracted by three methods, a microwave assisted process (MAP), distillation in water (DW) and direct steam distillation (DSD), and tested for their relative toxicity as contact acaricides to the two spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch. All three extracts of A. absinthium and of T. vulgare were lethal to the spider mite but to variable degrees. The LC50 obtained from the DSD oil of A. absinthium was significantly lower (0.04 mg/cm2) than that of the MAP (0.13 mg/cm2) and DW (0.13 mg/cm2) oil of this plant species. DSD and DW extracts of T. vulgare were more toxic (75.6 and 60.4% mite mortality, respectively, at 4% concentration) to the spider mite than the MAP extract (16.7% mite mortality at 4% concentration). Chromatographic analysis indicated differences in composition between the more toxic DSD oil of A. absinthium and the other two extracts of this plant, indicating that a sesquiterpene (C15H24) compound present in the DSD oil and absent in the other two may enhance the toxicity of the DSD oil. Chemical analysis of the T. vulgare extracts indicated that beta-thujone is by far the major compound of the oil (>87.6%) and probably contributes significantly to the acaricidal activity of the oil.

Evaluation of Acaricidal Effect of Ethnoveteinary Medicinal Plant by in vivo and in vitro against Sarcoptes scabiei var. caprae of Infected Goats in North Shoa, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

“…of Eucalyptus proved to be effective in killing mites achieving more than 65% mortality. In contrary to the present study, essential oils from Eucalyptus globulus displayed a much reduced acaricidal effect, killing only 11% of mites after exposure [36,37]. This may be due to numerous factors which may affect the composition of essential oils.…”

In VitroAnthelmintic Effects of Medicinal Plants Used in Czech Republic

“…sativum, A. absinthium, C. regalis, C. carvi, I. helenium, J. regia, S. hortensis, and V. officinalis showed the best activity against the infective third-stage larvae of T. colubriformis in the LMI test, and a significant anthelmintic effect on egg embryogenesis (A. suum) was demonstrated by extracts from A. sativum, A. absinthium, C. carvi, D. carota, and J. regia. In summary, based on the results of the above-described experiments and literature data indicating low levels of toxicity for extracts from A. sativum (Saxena et al, 2005;Velasco-Velázquez et al, 2006), A. absinthium (Chiasson et al, 2001;Muto et al, 2003), C. carvi (Kumar & Singh, 2006), I. helenium (Spiridonov et al, 2005;Dorn et al, 2006), J. regia (Inbaraj & Chignell, 2004;Bhatia et al, 2006), S. hortensis (Zani et al, 1991), and V. officinalis (Romero-Jimenez et al, 2005;Yao et al, 2007), we suggest that some of these plant materials could be prospective sources for development of new antiparasitical herbal remedies. However, further phytochemical studies are required to determine the types of compounds responsible for the anthelmintic properties of these species.…”

Action modes of Aloe vera L. extracts against &lt;i&gt;Tetranychus cinnabarinus&lt;/i&gt; Boisduval (Acarina: Tetranychidae)

“…The mites were considered dead if their movement was imperceptible after repeated gentle probing with a fine brush. Mortality was assessed under a binocular microscope every 24 h. [8].…”