Toxicity and phytochemical profile of essential oil from Iranian Achillea mellifolium L. against Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Abstract

Chemical composition of Achillea mellifolium essential oil was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and its acaricidal activity was estimated using leaf dipping and fumigation bioassays against Tetranychus urticae. Terpenic compounds, such as piperitone (12.79%), ρ-cymene (10.60%), bornyl acetate (8.58%) and p-menth-2-en-1-ol (8.35%) were identified as main components. The essential oil has potential toxicity on T. urticae and a correlation between log concentration and mite mortality in both bioassays has been achieved. The findings indicated that the essential oil of A. mellifolium as a well-known medicinal plant may be useful in the search of effective natural material as Acaricide.

• Achillea mellifolium
• essential oil
• medicinal plant
• phytochemistry
• Tetranychus urticae
• toxicity