Cloning and Its Expression Respond to Starvation Plant Essential

Oils as Growth Inhibitor against Spodoptera Exigua

H. Passara

, J. Pumnuan

†

and K. Thipmanee

‡

Department of Plant Production Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology,

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand

Corresponding author

Keywords: Growth Inhibitor, Essential Against Oil, Beet Armyworm, Development Period.

Abstract: One of the main problems in Chinese cabbage culture is the destruction by insect pests. Normally, the beet

armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, is the major insect pest in Chinese cabbage produced in Thailand. The aim of

this experiment was to study the influence of plant essential oils as growth inhibitor against the secondary

stage instar larvae of the beet armyworm. The essential oils from Illicium verum, Curcuma longa, Foeniculum

vulgare, and Ocimum tenuiflorum at varied concentrations; 0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25 % (v/v) and

ten secondary stage instar larvae were used at each level of concentration in the experiment with 3 replicates.

The growth stage, the development period from larva to pupa, and pupa to adult stage, and the percentage of

mortality were observed. The results showed that the highest growth inhibition was at 0.75% concentration

of Illicium verum and Curcuma longa. The percentage of mortality of pupa and adult stages were 100% at

0.75% concentration of Illicium verum and Curcuma longa. The development period from larvae to pupa was

5.67±5.77 days at 0.50% concentration of Illicium verum and Curcuma longa. The development period from

pupa to adult was 8.67±5.77 days at 0.50% concentration of Illicium verum and Curcuma longa. The result

also showed that at 0.50% concentration of Illicium verum and Curcuma longa, the development period of

beet armyworm from larvae to pupa stage and from pupa to adult stage was less than the development period

of the control group. As a result, the growth stage was incomplete and the survival rate was affected. Therefore,

these essential oils can be developed as the effective botanical insecticides against the beet armyworm.

1 INTRODUCTION

Beet armyworms, Spodoptera exigua, are commonly

found on several agricultural crops (Smagghe and

Degheele, 1994), especially on Chinese cabbage.

Controlling pests by using chemical insecticide can

lead to insecticide resistance in which the pests have

developed the resistance to the insecticide (Osorio et.

al., 2008), resulting in an increase in the amount of

chemicals used for pest control or an increase in usage

of various chemicals, which will have an adverse

effect on the environment and can be a cause of global

warming due to higher temperature from using

chemicals (Grbić et. al., 2011).

Moreover, chemical insecticide can be toxic to the

environment, soil, farmers, consumers, and ecosystem

because of its contamination. To lessen the impact on

the environment, plant extracts and essential oils can

be used as alternatives for pest management.

Secondary metabolites in plant extracts have no harm

to the environment, and can decompose rapidly

(Croteau et. al., 20001). This study then evaluated the

effectiveness of some plant essential oils as growth

inhibitor against Spodoptera exigua.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Insect and Essential Oils

Preparation

In this study, beet armyworms were cultured in

laboratory conditions at 25

๐

C and 12:12 light/dark

cycle. The essential oil of Illicium verum, Curcuma

longa, Foeniculum vulgare, and Ocimum tenuiflorum

were diluted in water plus tween-20 to obtain 0.00,

0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25% concentrations. The

essential oils used in this study were purchased from

Thai-China Flavours and Fragrances Industry Co.,

Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand.

Passara, H., Pumnuan, J. and Thipmanee, K.

Cloning and Its Expression Respond to Starvation Plant Essential Oils as Growth Inhibitor against Spodoptera Exigua.

DOI: 10.5220/0011595400003430

In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Agr icultural and Biological Sciences (ABS 2022), pages 32-35

ISBN: 978-989-758-607-1; ISSN: 2795-5893

2.2 Bioassay and Analysis

Brassica rapa (Chinese cabbage) leaves were cut into

circles with the diameter of 3 centimeters, and were

dipped into the prepared essential oils (5 Chinese

cabbage leaves in circle shape for each concentration)

and were put into the circle box. Ten secondary stage

instar larvae were put into the circle box in which

treated leaves were kept. The growth stage, the

development period from larva to pupa stage, and

pupa to adult stage, and the percentage of mortality at

pupa and larva stage of Spodoptera exigua were

observed.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The result showed that the highest efficacy was at

0.75% concentration of Illicium verum and Curcuma

longa essential oils and 100% inhibitory effect on the

growth of the Spodoptera exigua was found at 1.25%

concentration of Foeniculum vulgare, and Ocimum

tenuiflorum as shown in Table 1, 2. As a result, the

larvae had a less survival rate to be able to reach a

pupa and adult stage, The development period from

larvae to pupa stage of Illicium verum and Curcuma

longa at 0.50% concentration was 5.67±5.77 days.

The development period from pupa to adult stage of

Illicium verum and Curcuma longa at 0.50%

concentration was 8.67±5.77 days. The development

period from larvae to pupa stage of Foeniculum

vulgare and Ocimum tenuiflorum at 1.00%

concentration was 5.67±5.77 and 6.33±5.77 days

respectively. The development period from pupa to

adult stage of Foeniculum vulgare and Ocimum

tenuiflorum at 1.00% concentration was 9.00±0.00

and 9.33±5.77 days respectively. Therefore, the

average development period from larvae to pupa stage

and from pupa to adult stage from the experiment was

less than the average development period of the

control treatment, which was 6.67 ± 5.77 days for

larvae to pupa, and 9.67 ± 5.77 days for pupa to adult

(Table 3, 4). Shorter development period resulted in

incomplete growth cycle because the shorter period

of molting inhibited the development of larvae into

pupa and adult stage and affected the survival rate.

The result of this study was similar to the result

of the previous research. For example, the turmeric

oil showed repellent and growth inhibiting effect on

red flour beetle. Most larva red flour beetle fail to

develop into pupa stage and the delayed development

affected the mortality (Jilani and Su, 1983). The

Chinese star anise crude extract completely inhibited

the development of housefly, Musca domestica, into

pupa stage (Guntharee, 2008). Trans – anethole, the

main effective chemical compound of thymol showed

high toxicity to Spodoptera litura (Passreiter et. al.,

2004). The essential oil of star anise lowered the

growth rate of Gypsy moth (Kostić et. al., 2021). The

turmeric rhizomes extract tended to have high

toxicity and repellent effect against Sitophilus

zeamais and Spodoptera frugiperda (Tavares et. al.,

2013). Turmeric extract contained insecticidal

property against dengue fever mosquito Aedes

aegypti Linnaeus (Sukari et. al., 2010). Ar-turmerone,

a major bioactive compound of herb, showed

insecticidal activity to Nilaparvata lugens and

Plutella xylostella (Lee, 2001). The turmeric extract

had an effect on mortality and fecundity of

Bactrocera zonata (Siddiqi et. al., 2011). (Ali et. al.,

2014) reported the antifeedant, toxicant and growth

regulatory effect of Curcuma longa on red flour

beetle. Beside (Chowdhury et. al., 2000) presented

that Curcuma longa was highly effective as growth

inhibitor against Schistocerca gregaria and

Dysdercus koenigii.

Table 1: The average growth inhibition of plant essential oils against Spodoptera exigua pupa.

Plant

Essential

oils

Concentrations (%), (v/v)

Average growth inhibition (%)

0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25

Illicium

verum

0.00±0.00

50.00 ±0.00

70.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Curcuma

lon

0.00±0.00

56.67±5.77

86.67±5.77

100.00±0.00

Foeniculum

vul

are

0.00±0.00

33.33±5.77

60.00±0.00

70.00±0.00

76.67±5.77

100.00±0.00

Ocimum

tenuiflorum

0.00±0.00

33.33±5.77

53.33±5.77

60.00±0.00

70.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Notes: Mean in a row followed by the same capital letter and means in a column followed by the same common letter are not

significant different (P<0.05) according to Duncan’s multiple range test.

Cloning and Its Expression Respond to Starvation Plant Essential Oils as Growth Inhibitor against Spodoptera Exigua

Table 2: The average growth inhibition of plant essential oils against Spodoptera exigua adult.

Plant

Essential

oils

Concentrations (%), (v/v)

Average growth inhibition (%)

0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25

Illicium

verum

0.00±0.00

60.00±0.00

80.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Curcuma

lon

0.00±0.00

60.00±0.00

90.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Foeniculum

vulgare

0.00±0.00

33.33±5.77

60.00±0.00

70.00±0.00

80.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Ocimum

tenuiflorum

0.00±0.00

33.33±5.77

53.33±5.77

60.00±0.00

70.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Notes: Mean in a row followed by the same capital letter and means in a column followed by the same common letter are not

significant different (P<0.05) according to Duncan’s multiple range test.

Table 3: The average growth period of pupa stage of Spodoptera exigue caused by plant essential oils.

Plant

essential

oils

Concentrations (%), (v/v)

Average growth period (day)

0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25

Illicium

verum

6.67±5.77

6.33±5.77

5.67±5.77

0.00±0.00

Curcuma

lon

6.67±5.77

6.33±5.77

5.67±5.77

0.00±0.00

Foeniculum

vulgare

6.67±5.77

6.33±5.77

5.67±5.77

0.00±0.00

Ocimum

tenuiflorum

6.67±5.77

6.33±5.77

0.00±0.00

Notes: Mean in a row followed by the same capital letter and means in a column followed by the same common letter are not

significant different (P<0.05) according to Duncan’s multiple range test.

Table 4: The average growth period of adult stage of Spodoptera exigue caused by plant essential oils.

Plant

Essential

oils

Concentrations (%), (v/v)

Average growth period (day)

0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25

Illicium

verum

9.67±5.77

9.00±0.00

8.67±5.77

0.00±0.00

Curcuma

lon

9.67±5.77

9.00±0.00

8.67±5.77

0.00±0.00

Foeniculum

vulgare

9.67±5.77

9.33±5.77

9.00±0.00

0.00±0.00

Ocimum

tenuiflorum

9.67±5.77

9.33±5.77

0.00±0.00

Notes: Mean in a row followed by the same capital letter and means in a column followed by the same common letter are not

significant different (P<0.05) according to Duncan’s multiple range test.

5 CONCLUSION

The experiment of inhibiting effect of selected plant

essential oils on the growth and development of pupa

and adult stages of Spodoptera exigua showed that the

essential oils from Illicium verum and Curcuma longa

had strong insecticidal activity and high potential to

be developed as the botanical insecticide against beet

armyworm in order to reduce the use of synthetic

chemicals. However, additional study and testing

should be conducted, particularly testing in the

experimental plots under natural environment to

confirm the effectiveness of these essential oils.

ABS 2022 - The International Conference on Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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Cloning and Its Expression Respond to Starvation Plant Essential Oils as Growth Inhibitor against Spodoptera Exigua