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Contact, fumigant, and cytotoxic activities of thyme and lemongrass essential oils against larvae and an ovarian cell line of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni

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Abstract

The chemical composition of a plant essential oil can be affected by many environmental and biological factors. Understanding the role of individual constituents as well as their interactions to the overall insecticidal bioactivity is prerequisite to the use of essential oils as an alternative to conventional insecticides. In the present study, the chemical compositions of plant essential oils obtained from Thymus vulgaris (thyme) and Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and the insecticidal and cytotoxic activities of individual constituents were evaluated against third instar larvae and an ovarian cell line of Trichoplusia ni. Thymol was the most abundant compound in thyme oil and the primary active constituent in contact and cytotoxicity tests, whereas p-cymene was the most effective compound for fumigant toxicity. In lemongrass oil, citral was identified as the major active and most abundant constituent. A weak correlation between insecticidal activity and cytotoxicity was observed, indicating limitation of the latter as a screening tool for novel insecticides. Although the evaporation of thymol was enhanced at higher temperatures, its contribution to fumigant activity was limited.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Nancy Brad, Zyta Abramowski, and Lina Madilao for technical support.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

This study does not contain any studies with animals, as defined by the University of British Columbia, performed by any of the authors.

Funding

This study was funded by a Discovery grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [2729–11] [to MBI] and a University of British Columbia graduate fellowship [to JHT].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Jun-Hyung Tak, Eduardo Jovel & Murray B. Isman

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  1. Jun-Hyung Tak
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  2. Eduardo Jovel
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  3. Murray B. Isman
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Correspondence to Murray B. Isman.

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Communicated by M. Traugott.

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Tak, JH., Jovel, E. & Isman, M.B. Contact, fumigant, and cytotoxic activities of thyme and lemongrass essential oils against larvae and an ovarian cell line of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni . J Pest Sci 89, 183–193 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-015-0655-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-015-0655-1

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