Chemical Composition and Insecticidal Activity of Crithmum Maritimum L. Essential Oil against Stored‐Product Beetle Tribolium Castaneum

Abstract

Several plant essential oils have been used against diverse insect pests since, unlike conventional pesticides, they pose almost no risk to humans and the environment. For this reason, the essential oil (EO) isolated from the fresh leaves of Crithmum maritimum L. and its fractions (F1–F5) obtained by chromatographic simplification were investigated for their chemical profile, as well as for their toxicity and repellency effects against Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) adults. The analysis by GC/MS allowed the identification of 92.8–99.1 % of the compositions of the total oil (EO) and of its fractions (F1–F5). The EO and its fractions F3–F5 were characterized by the presence of a high amount of phenylpropanoids (94.4, 94.8, 93.6, and 88.7 %, respectively): in all the samples, dill apiole was the most abundant component (EO: 94.1 %, F3: 94.6 %, F4: 93.4 %, and F5: 83.3 %). In addition, the repellency assay results showed that the volatile fraction F5 and the complete EO exhibited a higher repellency towards T. castaneum (97 % and 93 %, respectively) after 2 h of exposure at the dose of 0.04 μL/cm2. The median lethal dose of the topical application of the EO was 9 %. Furthermore, the fraction F1 possessed interesting contact toxicity against T. castaneum (80 % of mortality) at the concentration of 10 %. These results suggested that the essential oil of C. maritimum leaves might be used as an alternative to synthetic insecticides in order to prevent insects from damaging the stored products.

Physicochemical Characterization of Crithmum maritimum L. and Daucus carota subsp. gummifer (Syme) Hook.fil. and Their Antimicrobial Activity against Apple Tree and Grapevine Phytopathogens

“…Apiole and methylthymol are in correspondence with dill-apiole (an isomer of apiole) and thymol methyl ether, two of the major components of C. maritimum essential oil from Kélibia and Monestir reported by Jallali, et al [30]. Dill-apiole was also referred by Ngom, et al [43], Houta, et al [9], and Ben Mustapha, et al [44]; and thymol methyl eter by Alves-Silva, et al [45] and Nabet, et al [10]. The main difference between the composition of our extracts and those reported by some authors [9,10,46] is the absence of γ-terpinene and sabinene in the extracts presented herein.…”

Rock Samphire, a Candidate Crop for Saline Agriculture: Cropping Practices, Chemical Composition and Health Effects

“…The aerial parts of the species contain a great diversity of volatile compounds, including sabinene, α-Terpinene, γ-Terpinene, limonene, terpinen-4-ol, thymyl methyl oxide, p-Cymene, α-Pinene, Z-β-Ocimene, β-Phellandrene, dillapiole and myrcene [1,7,21,23,[82][83][84][85][86].…”

“…In addition to the above properties, sea fennel exhibits a considerable insecticidal activity against serious pests of crops and insects of health importance such as the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum Herbst. ), the cotton leafworm (Spodoptera litura F.), the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti L.) and the southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus Say) [18,20,21]. In particular, Mustapha et al [21] observed that the essential oil obtained from the fresh leaves of sea fennel exhibited both repellent and toxic effects against the adults of the red flour beetle.…”

“…), the cotton leafworm (Spodoptera litura F.), the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti L.) and the southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus Say) [18,20,21]. In particular, Mustapha et al [21] observed that the essential oil obtained from the fresh leaves of sea fennel exhibited both repellent and toxic effects against the adults of the red flour beetle. Specifically, the essential oil at a concentration of 10% exhibited 50% mortality against adults within 24 h, while its repellent activity varied between 83 and 93%, depending on the exposure time, with the highest values recorded after exposure for 120 h. Suresh et al [20] also reported that sea fennel essential oil decreased the longevity of the cotton leafworm male and female adults by 5 to 60%, depending on the essential oil dose, while the fecundity of the same insect declined by 77.8% at an essential oil dose of 250 µL L −1 .…”

Chemical Composition and Insecticidal Activity against Tribolium Castaneum of Thapsia garganica L. Seed Essential Oil

“…Indeed, the use of plant extracts such as essential oils has been a promising natural methodology [4] . The essential oils can also be applied as repellents or insecticides for treatment of stored products [5–8] . These are effective ecological alternatives to synthetic pesticides [5] .…”