Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Gas chromaotography-mass spectrometry analysis of insecticidal essential oil derived from Chinese Ainsliaea fragrans Champ ex Benth (Compositae)

Mei Ping Zhao, Xin Chao Liu, Qi Zhi Liu, Zhi Long Liu

Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China;

For correspondence:- Zhi Liu Email: zhilongliu@cau.edu.cn Tel:+861062732800

Received: 6 January 2015 Accepted: 27 July 2015 Published: 29 September 2015

Citation: Zhao MP, Liu XC, Liu QZ, Liu ZL. Gas chromaotography-mass spectrometry analysis of insecticidal essential oil derived from Chinese Ainsliaea fragrans Champ ex Benth (Compositae). Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(9):1685-1689 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i9.20

© 2015 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the chemical composition and insecticidal activity of the essential oil of the aerial parts of Ainsliaea fragrans against maize weevils (Sitophilus zeamais).

Methods: The essential oil of A. fragrans aerial parts was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromaotography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Contact toxicity of the essential oil and its major constituents was determined by topical application against S. zeamais.

Results: A total of 30 components of the essential oil were identified. The major constituents were myristicin (41.3 %), elemicine (11.9 %), cis-isosafrole (11.5 %), borneol (9.1 %) and caryophyllene (8.8 %). The essential oil of A. fragrans exhibited contact toxicity against S. zeamais with LC₅₀ value of 50.7 µg/adult. Elemicine possessed the strongest contact toxicity (LC₅₀ = 13.5 µg/adult) while cis-isosafrole, myristicin, caryophyllene and borneol had LC₅₀ values of 31.2 µg/adult, 43.4 µg/adult, 57.9 µg/adult, and 98.4 µg/adult, respectively.

Conclusion: The study indicates that the essential oil of A. fragrans aerial parts and its major constituents have a potential for development into natural insecticides for the control of grain storage insects.

Keywords: Ainsliaea fragrans, Sitophilus zeamais, Contact toxicity, Elemicine, Essential oil, Grain storage