Antioxidant, insecticidal, antifeedant, and repellent activities of oregano (Origanum vulgare)

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to assess the antioxidant capacity, the insecticidal, feeding deterrence, repellent effects against Tribolium confusum of the essential oil (EO) and the organic extracts (ME) of Origanum vulgare. The chemical composition of the EO revealed the presence thirty-nine components dominated by carvacrol (81%). With respect to the EO, the ME acted as a potent free radical scavenger with IC50 values of 0.127 and 0.058 mg/mL, respectively. The EO exhibited the most significant toxicity compared to the ME with a mortality of 62 and 20% at 0.08 µL/insect after 24h whereas the EO expressed the highest repellency compared to the ME with a PR of 70 and 38% after 24h. As for feeding deterrence, both samples influenced all nutritional indexes. The findings found in this work might help in the promotion of oregano as natural antioxidant, antifeedant, repellent and insecticide as an alternative to conventional harmful ones.

KEYWORDS:

• Origanum vulgare
• antioxidant activity
• feeding deterrent, repellent, contact toxicity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.