Chemical composition and acaricidal activity of essential oils from two species of the genus Bauhinia that occur in the Cerrado biome in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Essential oils from the leaves of Bauhinia rufa and B. dumosa collected from the Cerrado biome in central Brazil were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed using GC and GC/MS. Both oils had a predominance of sesquiterpenes (B. rufa: 95.3 ± 0.5%; B. dumosa: 97.2 ± 1.1%). β-Caryophyllene (15.8 ± 0.5%), epi-α-cadinol (12.8 ± 0.4%), γ-muurolene (12.2 ± 0.4%) and α-cadinol (10.0 ± 0.5%) were identified as the major constituents of the B. rufa oil, whereas germacrene B (37.6 ± 1.2%) and (E)-nerolidol (29.1 ± 0.6%) were the major constituents of the B. dumosa oil. Both oils were toxic to Tetranychus urticae by fumigation (B. rufa: LC₅₀ = 2.76 µL/L of air; B. dumosa: LC₅₀ = 0.97 µL/L of air) and residual contact (B. rufa: LC₅₀ = 30.46 µL/mL; B. dumosa: LC₅₀ = 16.44 µL/mL). The results of the two-choice method revealed that the oils affect the behavior of the mite, interfering in its feeding and egg-laying preferences.

KEYWORDS:

• Bauhinia dumosa
• Bauhinia rufa
• Cerrado biome
• essential oil
• Tetranychus urticae

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the following Brazilian fostering agencies: Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco [FACEPE # APQ-1008-1.06/15; APQ-0476-1.06/14; APQ-08601.06/1], Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [CNPq # 302860/2016-9] and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior [CAPES grant # IBPG-0984-5.01/10].