NAT PROD RESOUR REPOS, VOL. 4, NO.

1, 2013


28
INSECTICIDES (incl. Fungicides,
Herbicides, Nematicides, Larvicides, etc.)

NPARR 4(1), 2013-048 Antifungal Activity and
Chemical Composition of Thyme, Peppermint
and Citronella Oils in Vapor Phase against
Avocado and Peach Postharvest Pathogens

The antifungal activity of three essential
oils thyme: (Thymus vulgaris L), peppermint,
(Mentha piperita L) and citronella (Cymbopogen
nardus); against two avocado postharvest fungal
pathogens: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides
(anthracnose), Lasiodiplodia theobromae (stem-
end rot); and three peach pathogens: Monilinia
fructicola (brown rot), Rhizopus stolonifer
(Rhizopus rot) and Penicillium expensum
(blue mould rot), was assayed using a disc
volatilization method. In vitro study revealed that
in the vapor phase, thyme oil at 5L/plate as
opposed to peppermint and citronella oils
completely inhibited the radial mycelia growth
of all five pathogens. gas chromatograph/mass
spectrometry analysis showed thymol (58.77%),
menthol (46.45%) and R (+) citronellal (27.59%)
as the major compounds in thyme, peppermint
and citronella oils, respectively. Thyme oil vapor
showed a fungicidal effect on C. gloeosporioides,
L. theobromae and R. stolonifer at 5L/plate.
Thyme oil vapor at 66.7L/L significantly
reduced anthracnose and stem-end rot in
artificially wounded and infected fruit. Therefore,
these results suggest that thyme oil vapors could
be used as alternate natural fungicide to control
the common postharvest diseases in avocado.
Growers and suppliers of fresh produce are faced
with the challenge of providing consumers with
products that are attractive, free from disease,
defects and toxic residues, and with longer shelf
or storage life. The strict regulations enforced by
the fresh produce-importing countries regarding
the minimum pesticide residue levels in the
edible portion of the fresh produce, increasing
resistance to synthetic fungicides by fungal
pathogens, waste disposal of fungicides and
growing concerns to lower the associated
environmental footprint have necessitated the
search for a natural novel fungicide to replace
synthetic fungicide applications in the packing
line as postharvest treatment. Consumer
preference to organic fresh produce is
increasingly becoming popular in developed
countries. On the other hand, synthetic fungicide
applications are expensive for small-scale
farmers from developing countries. Therefore,
considering all the reasons mentioned earlier, the
results of our study provide a novel practical tool
using thyme oil vapors to reduce losses because
of postharvest diseases in avocado, and thus
ensuring safe food [Sellamuthu, P.S.*,
Sivakumar, D. and Soundy, P. (Postharvest
Technology Group, Department of Crop
Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology,
Pretoria 0001, South Africa), Journal of Food
Safety, 2013, 33(1), 86-93].

NPARR 4(1), 2013-049 Antifungal activity of
different extracts of Chenopodium album
against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae, the
cause of onion basal rot

Antifungal potential of different parts of
Chenopodium album L. was examined against
Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend. f. sp. cepae
(Hans.) Snyder and Hansen, the cause of basal rot
disease of onion (Allium cepa L.). In screening
bioassays, the effect of different concentrations
(0.5, 1.0, 3.0%) of methanolic leaf, stem, root
and inflorescence extracts of C. album was
investigated. Extracts of different parts of the test
plant species showed variable antifungal activity.
The highest antifungal activity was exhibited
by inflorescence extract. Different concentrations
of this extract suppressed fungal growth by
24-80%. Methanolic inflorescence extract
was successively extracted with n-hexane,
chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. The
highest antifungal activity was shown by ethyl
acetate fraction resulting in 68-100% reduction
in fungal biomass. From ethyl acetate fraction,
three unknown compounds viz. A, B and C were
isolated through thin layer chromatography
INSECTICIDES


29
(TLC). TLC fraction A exhibited the highest
antifungal activity with minimum inhibitory
concentration (MIC) of 250 g mL-1. Thus,
antifungal constituents of ethyl acetate fraction of
methanolic inflorescence extract of C. album can
be used as natural fungicides for the management
of basal plate rot of onion [Rauf, S. * and Javaid,
A. (Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University
of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan) International
Journal of Agriculture and Biology, 2013, 15(2),
367-371].

NPARR 4(1), 2013-050 Purification, stability
and antifungal activity of verbascoside from
Lippia javanica and Lantana camara leaf
extracts

The biological properties of verbascoside
are numerous and include antimicrobial activities.
As part of a drive to identify alternatives
to synthetic fungicides for crop protection, this
study was aimed at investigating methods of
preparing verbascoside-rich plant extracts from
viable sources of the compound and monitoring
its stability under various conditions. Leaf
extracts of Lippia javanica Spreng. and Lantana
camara Linn. (Verbenaceae) were partially
purified using column chromatography and high
speed centrifugal countercurrent chromatography,
the latter yielding fractions with higher
purity (71%) than those from a single column
chromatographic separation (38-44% pure).
Verbascoside remained stable upon heating, but
was completely decomposed after four hours
exposure of the extract to sunlight. Compared to
the other storage conditions, the compound was
best preserved in a dry form in the dark. Analysis
by high performance liquid chromatography
revealed that the verbascoside content of plant
parts of L. camara from natural populations
was highly variable, both within and between
populations. However, several specimens
produced high levels of the compound
(Hazyview: Plant 3 (83.0. mg/g dry weight),
Magoebaskloof 2: Plant 5 (64.8. mg/g) and White
River: Plant 2 (64.0. mg/g)), suggesting that
L. camara is an excellent source of verbascoside.
Extracts of the plant displayed effective in vivo
inhibition of Penicillium digitatum on oranges
[Oyourou, J.-N., Combrinck, S., Regnier, T. and
Marston, A. (Department of Chemistry, Tshwane
University of Technology, Private Bag X680, Pretoria
0001, South Africa ), Industrial Crops and Products,
2013, 43(1), 820-826].

NPARR 4(1), 2013-051 Cadinene sesquiterpenes
from Eupatorium adenophorum and their
antifungal activity

Bioactive constituents of Eupatorium
adenophorum were investigated for antifungal
activity. A structure-antifungal activity
relationship of cadinene sesquiterpenes was
predicted by evaluating individual derivatives.
Cadinene derivatives were extracted from leaves
of Eupatorium adenophorum using ethyl acetate.
Five cadinene sesquiterpenes were isolated
by column chromatography and Preparative Thin
Layer Chromatography. Bioactivity of these
cadinene sesquiterpenes were evaluated in vitro
against four phytopathogenic fungi using
poison food technique. Purified sesquiterpenes
were spectroscopically elucidated as cadinan-
3-ene-2,7-dione (1), 7-hydroxycadinan-3-ene-2-
one (2), 5,6-dihydroxycadinan-3-ene-2,7-dione
(3), cadinan-3,6-diene-2,7-dione (4) and 2-acetyl-
cadinan-3,6-diene-7-one (5). Antifungal evaluation
of these compounds against pathogenic fungi
was found to be selective. Compound 1
was highly inhibitory towards S. rolfsii
(ED
50
181.60 0.58 gmL
-1
) and R. solani
(ED
50
189.74 1.03 gmL
-1
). Availability of
plant material and significant antifungal activity
makes the plant a potential source of antifungal
agent and that can be exploited for the
development of a natural fungicide [Kundu, A.*,
Saha, S., Walia, S.,Shakil, N.A., Kumar, J.,
Annapurna, K. (Division of Agricultural
Chemicals, Indian Agricultural Research
Institute, New Delhi, India) , Journal of
Environmental Science and Health - Part B
Pesticides, Food Contaminants, and Agricultural
Wastes, 2013, 48 (6), 516-522].
NAT PROD RESOUR REPOS, VOL. 4, NO. 1, 2013


30
NPARR 4(1), 2013-052 In vitro pediculicidal
activity of herbal shampoo base on Thai local
plants against head louse (Pediculus humanus
capitis de Geer)
Head lice infestation, a worldwide head
infestation caused Pediculus humanus capitis De
Geer, is an important public health problem in
Thailand. Several chemical pediculicides have
lost in efficacy due to increasing resistance of lice
against insecticide. Therefore, non-toxic
alternative products, such as natural products
from plants, e.g. plant extract pediculicides, are
needed for head lice control. The aims of this
study were to evaluate the potential of
pediculicidal activity of herbal shampoo base on
three species of Thai local plants (Acacia
concinna (Willd.) DC, Averrhoa bilimbi Linn.
and Tamarindus indica Linn.) against head lice
and to compare them with carbaryl shampoo
(Hafif shampoo; 0.6 % w/v carbaryl) and non-
treatment control in order to assess their in vitro.
Doses of 0.12 and 0.25 ml/cm
2
of each herbal
shampoo were applied to filter paper, and ten
head lice were place on the filter paper. The
mortalities of head lice on the filter paper were
recorded at 1, 5, 10, 30 and 60 min by sterio-
microscope. All herbal shampoos at 0.25 ml/cm
2

were more effective pediculicide than carbaryl
shampoo with 100 % mortality at 5 min. The
median lethal time (LT
50
) of all herbal shampoos
at 0.25 ml/cm
2
showed no significant differences
over at 0.12 ml/cm
2
(P < 0.01). The most
effective pediculicide was T. indica extract
shampoo, followed by Av. bilimbi extract
shampoo and Ac. concinna extract shampoo, with
LT
50
values <1.0 min. Our data showed that all
herbal shampoos have high potential of
pediculicide to head lice treatments for
schoolchildren [Rassami, W*. and Soonwera, M.
(Entomology and Environment Programme,
Faculty of Agricultural Technology, King
Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Ladkrabang Bangkok, Thailand ), Parasitology
Research , 2013, 112(4), 1411-1416]