Acaricidal activity of Annonaceae fractions against Tetranychus tumidus and Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) and the metabolite profile of Duguetia lanceolata (Annonaceae) using GC-MS

Abstract

<p>Species of the <em>Tetranychus </em>genus feed on plant tissues, which reduces the rate of photosynthesis and can lead to the death of plant tissues. As a result, considerable production losses are caused by these arthropods. Thus, in order to aid in the development of new products for the control of <em>Tetranychus tumidus </em>Banks and <em>Tetranychus urticae </em>Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), the initial objective of this study was to select Annonaceae derived fractions that were soluble in dichloromethane and have acaricidal activity. Then, an exploratory analysis of the metabolite profile of the most successful fraction was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Among the dichloromethane soluble fractions derived from <em>Annona cacans </em>Warm., <em>Annona coriacea </em>Mart., <em>Annona neolaurifolia </em>H. Rainer, <em>Annona sylvatica </em>A.St.-Hil., <em>Duguetia lanceolata </em>A.St.-Hil., <em>Guatteria australis </em>A.St.-Hil., <em>Xylopia brasiliensis </em>Spreng., <em>Xylopia emarginata </em>Mart. and <em>Xylopia sericea </em>A.St.-Hil., only the fraction from <em>D. lanceolata </em>stem bark reduced the survival of <em>T. tumidus </em>females. However, ovicidal activity was not detected when <em>D. lanceolata </em>stem bark was evaluated against <em>T. tumidus </em>eggs. Further, we studied the effect of dichloromethane soluble fractions from <em>D. lanceolata </em>leaves, berry fruits and stem bark on <em>T. urticae</em>, and the stem bark was found to be the most active fraction against <em>T. urticae</em>. The metabolite profile analysis of <em>D. lanceolata </em>stem bark by GC-MS, suggested that the main constituents were 2,4,5-trimethoxystyrene and trans-asarone.</p>