Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, Pakistan;2. Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, Pakistan Ningxia Center of Agricultural Organic synthesis, Agricultural Resource and Environment Institute of Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science, Yinchuan, P. R. China;3. Department of Molecular Biosciences, Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden;4. Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden;5. Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Laboratory of Chemical and Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania;6. Department of Chemistry, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Biomedical Centre, Uppsala, Sweden;7. Department of Chemistry, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden |
Abstract: | The pine weevil Hylobius abietis is an important pest causing severe damage to conifer seedlings in reforestation areas in Europe and Asia. Plants that have no evolutionary history with the pine weevil are of special interest in the search for compounds with a strong antifeedant activity. Thus, the essential oils of nine aromatic plants, viz Amomum subulatum, Cinnamomum tamala, Curcuma longa, Laurus nobilis, Ocimum basilicum, Origanum majorana, Origanum vulgare, Syzygium aromaticum and Trachyspermum ammi were extracted by hydrodistillation. The essential oil constituents were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and antifeedant properties towards the pine weevil were assessed using choice feeding bioassay. The essential oils of C. longa, O. majorana, S. aromaticum and T. ammi showed an excellent antifeedant activity towards the pine weevil for 24 hr, whereas the essential oil of other plants showed the activity for 6 hr. There was a positive correlation between the amount of benzenoid compounds and the antifeedant activity of the essential oils. This study suggests that pine weevil non-host plant compounds have potential to be used for the protection of seedlings against pine weevil feeding. However, further study will be needed to explore the antifeedant activity of individual components and oils in the laboratory as well as in the field. |