The aim of this research was to determine the chemical composition of the essential oil of
Acorus calamus rhizomes, its insecticidal activity against the booklouse,
(
Liposcelis bostrychophila) and to isolate any insecticidal constituents from the essential oil. The essential oil of
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The aim of this research was to determine the chemical composition of the essential oil of
Acorus calamus rhizomes, its insecticidal activity against the booklouse,
(
Liposcelis bostrychophila) and to isolate any insecticidal constituents from the essential oil. The essential oil of
A. calamus rhizomes was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. A total of 32 components of the essential oil of
A. calamus rhizomes was identified and the principal compounds in the essential oil were determined to be α-asarone (50.09%), (
E)-methylisoeugenol (14.01%), and methyleugenol (8.59%), followed by β-asarone (3.51%), α-cedrene (3.09%) and camphor (2.42%). Based on bioactivity-guided fractionation, the three active constituents were isolated from the essential oil and identified as methyleugenol, (
E)-methylisoeugenol and α-asarone. The essential oil exhibited contact toxicity against
L. bostrychophila with an LD
50 value of 100.21 µg/cm
2 while three constituent compounds, α-asarone, methyleugenol, and (
E)-methylisoeugenol had LD
50 values of 125.73 µg/cm
2, 103.22 µg/cm
2 and 55.32 µg/cm
2, respectively. Methyleugenol and (
E)-methylisoeugenol possessed fumigant toxicity against
L. bostrychophila adults with LC
50 values of 92.21 μg/L air and 143.43 μg/L air, respectively, while the crude essential oil showed an LC
50 value of 392.13 μg/L air. The results indicate that the essential oil of
A. calamus rhizomes and its constituent compounds have potential for development into natural fumigants/insecticides for control of the booklice.
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