Chemical constituents and insecticidal activity of the essential oil from fruits of foeniculum vulgare miller on larvae of khapra beetle (trogoderma granarium everts)
Abstract The objective of current study was to determine the chemical constituents and fumigant toxicity of essential oil isolated by hydro-distillation from dry fruit of bitter fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller). The chemical composition of the essential oil was assessed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Constituents of the oil were determined as α-pinene (1.6%) and limonene (3.3%), fenchone (27.3%), estragol (3.9%), and (E)-anethole (61.1%). The fumigant toxicity of the essential oil was tested on larvae of the stored product insect Trogoderma granarium Everts. The mortality of larvae was tested at different concentrations ranging from 31.2 to 531.2 μl/l air and at different exposure times (24 and 48 h). Probit analysis showed that LC50 and LC90 following a 48 h-exposure period for essential oil were 38.4 and 84.6 μl/l, respectively. These results showed that the essential oil from F. vulgare may be applicable to the management of populations of stored-product insects.