Repellent, Lethal Activity, and Synergism of Cannabis sativa Extracts with Terpenes Against a Laboratory Colony of Triatoma infestans

Dadé, Martín M.; Daniele, Martín R.; Rodriguez, Sergio; Díaz, Pilar; Silvestrini, Maria Pía; Schinella, Guillermo R.; Marin, Gustavo H.; Barrio, Daniel; Prieto Garcia, Jose M.

doi:10.3390/plants14213258

This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.

Open AccessArticle

Repellent, Lethal Activity, and Synergism of Cannabis sativa Extracts with Terpenes Against a Laboratory Colony of Triatoma infestans

by

Martín M. Dadé

^1,2,3,4,*

,

Martín R. Daniele

^2,4,

Sergio Rodriguez

⁵

,

Pilar Díaz

⁵,

Maria Pía Silvestrini

⁶

,

Guillermo R. Schinella

^1,3

,

Gustavo H. Marin

³

,

Daniel Barrio

⁷ and

Jose M. Prieto Garcia

^8,*

¹

Instituto de Ciencias de la Salud, UNAJ-CICPBA, Florencio Varela 1888, Argentina

²

Escuela de Veterinaria y Producción Agroindustrial, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Choele Choel 8360, Argentina

³

Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de la Plata, La Plata 1900, Argentina

⁴

Carrera de Veterinaria, Universidad de Ciencias Empresariales y Sociales (UCES), Cañuelas 1814, Argentina

⁵

Asociación Civil Cultivar Ciencia Argentina, La Plata 1900, Argentina

⁶

Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Instituto de Investigación de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Olavarría 7400, Argentina

⁷

CIT Río Negro, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Viedma 8500, Argentina

⁸

Centre for Natural Products Discovery, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Plants 2025, 14(21), 3258; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14213258 (registering DOI)

Submission received: 4 September 2025 / Revised: 14 October 2025 / Accepted: 22 October 2025 / Published: 24 October 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Essential Oils and Plant Extracts)

Download Versions Notes

Abstract

Triatoma infestans is one of the primary vectors of Chagas disease. This vector has developed increasing resistance to pyrethroids, the main insecticides used for its control. Recent studies have highlighted the repellent and lethal effects of Cannabis sativa on insects, suggesting its potential use in pest management. Based on this, we hypothesize that C. sativa could be a viable bioactive for controlling T. infestans. To test this hypothesis, acetone and ethanol extracts were obtained from the inflorescences of C. sativa L. (Deep Mandarine variety) using sonication. These extracts were analyzed through gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The repellent and lethal effects of the extracts were evaluated on fifth-instar nymphs of T. infestans from a laboratory colony, as well as on the beneficial non-target species, Apis mellifera. The most abundant terpenes identified were β-caryophyllene and β-pinene, with concentrations exceeding 100 ppm in both extracts. Cannabidiol and Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol were the predominant cannabinoids. Both extracts exhibited maximum lethal activity 48 h after insect contact, with the acetone extract demonstrating a potency five times greater than the ethanolic extract. Binary combinations of C. sativa extracts with major terpenes showed dose-dependent interactions against T. infestans, ranging from strong synergy (e.g., AE + β-caryophyllene, CI = 0.06–0.17) to marked antagonism (e.g., AE + E-ocimene, CI = 1.60–4.80). Furthermore, the acetone extract showed a more effective repellent action compared to the ethanol extract, even outperforming N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET, positive control). At a concentration of 25 µg/cm² for 60 min, the acetone extract achieved a 100% repellent effect, whereas DEET required a concentration of 50 µg/cm² to achieve the same effect. Unlike imidacloprid (positive control), neither extract showed toxicity to adult A. mellifera at the evaluated doses.

Keywords: Cannabis sativa; Triatoma infestans; bio-insecticides; cannabinoids; terpenes; vector control

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Dadé, M.M.; Daniele, M.R.; Rodriguez, S.; Díaz, P.; Silvestrini, M.P.; Schinella, G.R.; Marin, G.H.; Barrio, D.; Prieto Garcia, J.M. Repellent, Lethal Activity, and Synergism of Cannabis sativa Extracts with Terpenes Against a Laboratory Colony of Triatoma infestans. Plants 2025, 14, 3258. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14213258

AMA Style

Dadé MM, Daniele MR, Rodriguez S, Díaz P, Silvestrini MP, Schinella GR, Marin GH, Barrio D, Prieto Garcia JM. Repellent, Lethal Activity, and Synergism of Cannabis sativa Extracts with Terpenes Against a Laboratory Colony of Triatoma infestans. Plants. 2025; 14(21):3258. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14213258

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dadé, Martín M., Martín R. Daniele, Sergio Rodriguez, Pilar Díaz, Maria Pía Silvestrini, Guillermo R. Schinella, Gustavo H. Marin, Daniel Barrio, and Jose M. Prieto Garcia. 2025. "Repellent, Lethal Activity, and Synergism of Cannabis sativa Extracts with Terpenes Against a Laboratory Colony of Triatoma infestans" Plants 14, no. 21: 3258. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14213258

APA Style

Dadé, M. M., Daniele, M. R., Rodriguez, S., Díaz, P., Silvestrini, M. P., Schinella, G. R., Marin, G. H., Barrio, D., & Prieto Garcia, J. M. (2025). Repellent, Lethal Activity, and Synergism of Cannabis sativa Extracts with Terpenes Against a Laboratory Colony of Triatoma infestans. Plants, 14(21), 3258. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14213258

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Repellent, Lethal Activity, and Synergism of Cannabis sativa Extracts with Terpenes Against a Laboratory Colony of Triatoma infestans

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI