Fumigant Activity of Plant Essential Oils and Components from Garlic (Allium sativum) and Clove Bud (Eugenia caryophyllata) Oils against the Japanese Termite (Reticulitermes speratus Kolbe)

Abstract

Plant essential oils from 29 plant species were tested for their insecticidal activities against the Japanese termite, Reticulitermes speratus Kolbe, using a fumigation bioassay. Responses varied with plant material, exposure time, and concentration. Good insecticidal activity against the Japanese termite was achived with essential oils of Melaleuca dissitiflora, Melaleuca uncinata, Eucalyptus citriodora, Eucalyptus polybractea, Eucalyptus radiata, Eucalyptus dives, Eucalyptus globulus, Orixa japonica, Cinnamomum cassia, Allium cepa, Illicium verum, Evodia officinalis, Schizonepeta tenuifolia, Cacalia roborowskii, Juniperus chinensis var. horizontalis, Juniperus chinensis var. kaizuka, clove bud, and garlic applied at 7.6 microL/L of air. Over 90% mortality after 3 days was achieved with O. japonica essential oil at 3.5 microL/L of air. E. citriodora, C. cassia, A. cepa, I. verum, S. tenuifolia, C. roborowskii, clove bud, and garlic oils at 3.5 microL/L of air were highly toxic 1 day after treatment. At 2.0 microL/L of air concentration, essential oils of I. verum, C. roborowskik, S. tenuifolia, A. cepa, clove bud, and garlic gave 100% mortality within 2 days of treatment. Clove bud and garlic oils showed the most potent antitermitic activity among the plant essential oils. Garlic and clove bud oils produced 100% mortality at 0.5 microL/L of air, but this decreased to 42 and 67% after 3 days of treatment at 0.25 microL/L of air, respectively. Analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry led to the identification of three major compounds from garlic oil and two from clove bud oils. These five compounds from two essential oils were tested individually for their insecticidal activities against Japanese termites. Responses varied with compound and dose. Diallyl trisulfide was the most toxic, followed by diallyl disulfide, eugenol, diallyl sulfide, and beta-caryophyllene. The essential oils described herein merit further study as potential fumigants for termite control.

Antifungal activity of Myrtaceae essential oils and their components against three phytopathogenic fungi

“…Jointly or independently, they contribute to antifungal or insecticidal activities. [18][19][20] In this study, 16 major compounds from L. petersonii, 10 from E. citriodora and 13 from M. quinquenervia oil were identified by GC-MS analysis. The chemical components of L. petersonii, E. citriodora and M. quinquenervia have been well studied.…”

Fumigant antifungal activity of plant essential oils and components from West Indian bay (Pimenta racemosa) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) oils against two phytopathogenic fungi

“…Jointly or independently, they contribute to antifungal, insecticidal or nematicidal activities. [5][6]16 We analysed 17 and 20 volatile compounds from bay and red thyme oils, respectively, by GC-MS. Chemical components of red thyme and bay oils have been well studied. [7][8] Similar results were obtained in our analysis, although there was some difference in the ratios of chemicals.…”

“…3 Many essential oils and their constituents have been reported to exhibit antifungal, insecticidal and nematicidal activities. [4][5][6] Thyme is a 10 -30 cm tall aromatic plant native to the Mediterranean region. It is commonly sold fresh, ground, dried or as an essential oil.…”

Essential oils found in the smoke of "tira-capeta", a cigarette used by some quilombolas living in pantanal wetlands of Brazil

“…Clove bud oils showed antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant properties, and had been used traditionally as flavoring agent and antimicrobial material in food (Velluti et al, 2003). The main constituents of its essential oil are phenylpropanoids such as carvacrol, thymol, eugenol and cinnamaldehyde (Chaieb et al, 2007), followed by β-caryophyllene, α-humulene, and eugenyl acetate (Park & Shin, 2005;Jirovetz et al, 2006).…”

“…Garlic essential oils are reported to consist primarily of diallyl, dimethyl, and allylmethyl mono-, di-, trisulfides (Park & Shin, 2005;Chung et al, 2007). Allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate) is the main biologically active compound of fresh garlic juice (Camargo et al, 2007).…”