Chemical composition and larvicidal activities of the Himalayan cedar, Cedrus deodara essential oil and its fractions against the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella
1Natural Plant Products Division, CSIR - Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Himachal Pradesh, India
2Entomology and Pesticide Residue Analysis Laboratory, Hill Area Tea Science Division, CSIR - Institute of
Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Himachal Pradesh, India
Abstract
Plants and plant-derived materials play an extremely important role in pest management programs. Essential oil from wood chips of Himalayan Cedar, Cedrus deodara (Roxburgh) Don (Pinales: Pinaceae), was obtained by hydrodistillation and fractionated to pentane and acetonitrile from which himachalenes and atlantones enriched fractions were isolated. A total of forty compounds were identified from these fractions using GC and GC-MS analyses. Essential oils and fractions were evaluated for insecticidal activities against second instars of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae), using a leaf dip method. All samples showed promising larvicidal activity against larvae of P. xylostella. The pentane fraction was the most toxic with a LC50 value of 287 μg/ml. The himachalenes enriched fraction was more toxic (LC50 = 362 μg/ml) than the atlantones enriched fraction (LC50 = 365 μg/ml). LC50 of crude oil was 425 μg/ml and acetonitrile fraction was LC50 = 815 μg/ml. The major constituents, himachalenes and atlantones, likely accounted for the insecticidal action. Present bioassay results revealed the potential for essential oil and different constituents of C. deodara as botanical larvicides for their use in pest management.
Keywords: atlantones, biopesticide, essential oils, himachalenes, insecticidal activity
Correspondence:
c girish@ihbt.res.in, *Corresponding author
Editor: James Ottea was editor of this paper
Received: 20 October 2010 | Accepted: 8 February 2011 | Published: 15 November 2011
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 11, Number 157
Chaudhary A, Sharma P, Nadda G, Tewary DK, Singh B. 2011. Chemical composition and larvicidal activities of the Himalayan cedar, Cedrus deodara essential oil and its fractions against the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. Journal of Insect Science 11:157 available online: insectscience.org/11.157
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