Volatile, non-volatile composition and insecticidal activity of Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng against diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), and aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch

Abstract

Essential oil (EO) from aerial parts of Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng was extracted by steam distillation and characterized by Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). α-epi-cadinenol (16.63%), O-cymene (13.54%), bornyl acetate (7.70%), β-phellandrene (7.46%), and σ-2-carene (5.77%) were the major terpenoids. The EO showed promising toxicity (median lethal concentration, LC₅₀ = 3176.54 mg L⁻¹) and repellent activity (median repellent concentration, RC₅₀ = 2070.99 mg L⁻¹) to larvae of Plutella xylostella within 24 h. Among fractions, hexane fraction was more effective to P. xylostella (LC₅₀ = 5056.74 mg L⁻¹), whereas methanol fraction to Aphis craccivora (LC₅₀ = 1175.83 mg L⁻¹).

Keywords:

• Chemical composition
• essential oil
• fatty acids
• insecticidal activities
• residual toxicity
• repellency

Acknowledgements

The first author is grateful to The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) for their financial and material support through the CSIR-TWAS Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship. The authors would also like to thank Director, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh (India). IHBT Communication Number for the article is 3875.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India [BSC–0110 and BSC–0213].