Chemical Composition, Toxicity and Repellency ofInula graveolensEssential Oils from Roots and Aerial Parts against Stored‐Product BeetleTribolium castaneum(Herbst)

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, essential oils extracted from roots and aerial parts ofInula graveolensby hydrodistillation and their fractions obtained by chromatographic simplification were first investigated for their chemical composition by GC/MS and then evaluated for the first time for their repellency and contact toxicity properties againstTribolium castaneumadults. Twenty‐eight compounds were identified in roots essential oil (REO), which accounted for 97.9 % of the total oil composition, with modhephen‐8‐β‐ol (24.7 %),cis‐arteannuic alcohol (14.8 %), neryl isovalerate (10.6 %) and thymol isobutyrate (8.5 %) as major constituents. Twenty‐two compounds were found in the essential oil from aerial parts (APEO), which accounted for 93.9 % of the total oil, with borneol (28.8 %), caryophylla‐4(14),8(15)‐dien‐6‐ol (11.5 %), caryophyllene oxide (10.9 %), τ‐cadinol (10.5 %) and bornyl acetate (9.4 %) as main compounds.REO and APEO displayed stronger repellency after 2 h of exposure (80.0 and 90.0 %, respectively) againstT. castaneumat the concentration of 0.12 μL/cm2. After fractionation, fractions R4and R5exhibited greater effects (83.3 % and 93.3 %, respectively) than the roots essential oil. Furthermore, the fractions AP2and AP3showed higher repellency (93.3 and 96.6 %, respectively) than the aerial parts oil. The LD50values of oils from roots and aerial parts topically applied were 7.44 % and 4.88 %, respectively. Results from contact toxicity assay showed that fraction R4was more effective than the roots oil with LD50value of 6.65 %. These results suggests that essential oils of roots and aerial parts fromI. graveolensmay be explored as potential natural repellent and contact insecticides againstT. castaneumin stored products.