Azorella compacta: A promising plant for pest control

SOSA ANDREA MABEL; VERA NANCY ROXANA; BARDÓN ALICIA DEL VALLE; BORKOSKY SUSANA ALICIA

BIOCELL

INST HISTOL EMBRIOL-CONICET

Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2012 vol. 36 p. 65 - 65

0327-9545

Plant extracts have been used for centuries throughout South America as insect repellents and insecticides. Ecological agricul- ture has a tendency towards becoming ecologically, economically and socially more sound than conventional agriculture. Plants of the Azorella genus growing in the Andean mountains of Argentina accumulate diterpenes with mulinane and azorellane skeleton. The chloroform extract (CE) from the aerial parts of A. compacta was analyzed by chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. Pro- cessing of CE by column chromatography afforded a fraction from which 11,12-epoxymulin-13-en-20-oic acid was obtained (D). Both CE and D were incorporated into the diet of 2nd instar larvae of Spodoptera frugiperda, at 300 and 100 g of diet, respectively. We evaluated the influence of treatments on the feeding behavior, the mortality and malformations of larvae, pupae and adults. Our results showed a strong antifeedant effect on larvae with inhibition of food intake of 85% and 81% for CE and D, respectively. Com- pound D provoked a pupal mortality above 40%. Adults which sur- vived after the treatment with CE and D showed 45% of malforma- tions. This is an important step in developing rational methods for controlling pests.