Chemical profiling of Artemisia herba-alba, Cuminum cyminum, Cinnamomum camphora, and Salvia rosmarinus essential oils and assessment of their insecticidal potential to control the wild cochineal Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell)

• Published in: Crop protection 2023-09, Vol.171, p.106286, Article 106286
• Main Authors: Naboulsi, Imane, El Fakhouri, Karim, Annaz, Hassan, Lamzira, Rachid, Ramdani, Chaimae, Gabin Thierry, M. Bitchagno, Boulamtat, Rachid, Ben Bakrim, Widad, Mahdi, Ismail, Aboulmouhajir, Aziz, Yasri, Abdelaziz, El Bouhssini, Mustapha, Ward, Jane L., Sobeh, Mansour
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bioinsecticides; Cactus pear; Essential oils; Eucalyptol; Wild cochineal
• ISSN: 0261-2194; 1873-6904
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cropro.2023.106286

The wild cochineal, Dactylopius opuntiae (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae), has become a serious pest of prickly pear Opuntia ficus-indica L. in the Mediterranean region. The present study investigated the insecticidal activity of four essential oils, namely Cuminum cyminum, Cinnamomum camphora, Artemisia herba-alba, and Salvia rosmarinus against D. opuntiae nymphs and adult females in laboratory and greenhouse bioassays. Laboratory tests showed that at a concentration of 2.5%, C. cyminum oil was the most effective (inducing 100% nymph mortality at 3 h after treatment), followed by C. camphora, A. herba-alba and S. rosmarinus oils which recorded comparable mortality rates ranging from 89.40 to 100%, while S. rosmarinus and C. cyminum oils induced the highest mortality rates on adult females (88% and 86%, respectively) 8 days after treatments. Under greenhouse conditions, the combined application of C. cyminum oil (2.5%) and black soap (10 g/L) showed the highest nymphs’ mortality (100%) at 3 days after application. Adult female mortality in the greenhouse was lower than in the laboratory bioassay for all tested oils, with S. rosmarinus inducing 47% mortality at 2.5% at 14 days after the second spray. Eucalyptol was the main constituent of S. rosmarinus (41.20%) and C. camphora (56.47%) oils, and thujon-camphor was the major chemotype of A. herba-alba (30.55%/28.16%), while cuminaldehyde was the main compound of C. cyminum oil seeds (32.53%). These findings showed that the compounds of the two essential oils S. rosmarinus and C. camphora potential sources of insecticidal compounds and warrant further investigation. •The wild cochineal recently invaded the cactus across the Mediterranean region.•Salvia rosmarinus and Cuminum cyminum were the most effective oils under laboratory.•C. cyminum oil combined with black soap had a great potential under greenhouse.•Eucalyptol was the main constituent of S. rosmarinus and C. camphora oils.