The Growth Inhibition Effect of Essential Oils on Spodoptera Litura

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 Inhibited, Growth Time during the Maturation, Essential Oil, Botanical Insecticide, Spodoptera litura

Abstract: In Thailand, the main problem of growing Chinese cabbage is the infestation of insect pests such as

Spodoptera litura or cutworms. This research recognizes the importance of impact on agricultural products.

Therefore, the objective of this research was to study the effect of star anise (Illium verum), turmeric (Curcuma

longa), sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), and holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) essential oils in the form of

inhibitors on the development of pupa and adult stages at concentrations of 0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, and

1.25% (v/v) with 3 repetitions of the experiment. The results showed that at 0.50% concentrations of star

anise, turmeric essential oils and at 1.00% concentrations of sweet fennel and holy basil essential oils, showed

100% growth inhibition effect on the pupa and adult stages, and the growth period during maturation of the

pupa and the adult stage decreased, compared to the control group. So, the experimental result revealed that

plant essential oils can be used as a basis for controlling the cutworms

in the future.

1 INTRODUCTION

At present, agriculturists face various physical factors

which affect their agricultural products, such as

climate, moisture, as well as biological factors, such

as pests, plant diseases, and weeds. Insect pest is the

major cause of damages in agricultural products, both

quality and quantity (Oliveira et. al., 2014). The main

insect pests of Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinesis)

are diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), common

cutworm (Spodoptera litura), beet armyworm

(Spodoptera exigua), flea beetle (Phyllotreta sinuata),

and leaf miner (Liriomyza brassicae), especially

Spodoptera litura, which is one of the most

economically important pests in Thailand. The

Chinese cabbage can become damaged by the newly

hatched larva of Spodoptera litura, and become more

damaged when the cutworm becomes bigger.

Moreover, it can spread rapidly during the year

causing significant damages to Chinese cabbage

production.

In prevention of pests, agriculturists

commonly use synthetic chemical insecticides

because it's the most convenient, and effective way to

eliminate all stages of pests (Aktar et. al., 2009).

However, using synthetic chemical insecticides has an

adverse impact on several things, including users,

products, and environment (Mitra et. al., 2011) and

most importantly it can also result in insecticide

resistance (Sarwar and Salman, 2015). Using plant

essential oils is another method to control insect pests

and another way to mitigate the impact on the

environment because secondary metabolites from

plants have no toxicity to humans, animals, and

environment, and because of its rapid decomposition,

there is no toxic residue (Prakash et. al., 2008). The

secondary metabolite has insecticidal, repellent effect,

antifeedant, oviposition deterrent effect, and growth

inhibition effect on a pest. So, this research was to

investigate the growth inhibition effect of plant

essential oils on Spodoptera litura so that it can be

developed as alternatives for pest control and

reduction of chemical use.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Preparation of Plant Essential Oils

The pure essential oils of Curcuma longa, Illicium

verum, Ocimum tenuiflorum, and Foeniculum vulgare,

prepared according to principles of hazard analysis

and critical control point (HACCP), were purchased

from Thai-China Flavours and Fragrances Industry

Co., Ltd., (Bangkok, Thailand). To obtain 0.00, 0.25,

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

The Growth Inhibition Effect of Essential Oils on Spodoptera Litura.

DOI: 10.5220/0011595500003430

In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Agricultural and Biological Sciences (ABS 2022), pages 36-39

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

 2022 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All r ights reserved

0.5, 0.75, 1.00 and 1.25% concentrations of essential

oils, the essential oils and Tween-20 (1:1 ratio) were

added into water to obtain 100 ml of diluted essential

oils.

2.2 Preparation of Insect

The 2

stage instar larvae of Spodoptera litura were

cultured in laboratory conditions at 25

๐

C and 12:12

light/dark cycle, and the Chinese cabbage leaves were

served as their food.

2.3 Bioassay and Data Analysis

The Chinese cabbage leaves with the diameter of 3 cm

were dipped into the essential oil emulsions at various

concentrations as mentioned above, and water (0.00%

concentration) was used for the control group. Treated

leaves were put in the testing box. 10 second stage

instar larvae were then released into the box. The

experiment was performed in 3 replicates. Finally, the

development stage and growth period of Spodoptera

litura were observed and analyzed.

3 RESULTS

The results showed that the highest growth inhibition

effect on pupae and adult stages of Spodoptera litura

was at 0.50% concentration of star anise and turmeric

essential oils, and at 1.00% concentration of the sweet

fennel and holy basil essential oils (Table 1, 2). The

development period of cutworm for pupa and adult

stage at 0.25% concentration of star anise and

turmeric essential oils was 8.33±5.77 and 9.00±0.00

days, respectively, while the average growth period of

pupa and adult stage at 0.25 concentration of star

anise and turmeric essential oils was 8.00 ±0.00 and

8.00±0.00 days respectively (Table 3, 4). Shorter

growth period compared to the control group resulted

in abnormal molting, including incomplete molt, and

arrested molt cycle affecting a survival rate of

Spodoptera litura.

Table 1: The average growth inhibition percentage of various plant essential oils against Spodoptera litura pupa.

Essential oils

Concentrations (%), (v/v)

Average growth inhibition percentage (%)

0 (control) 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25

Star anise

0.00±0.00

40.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Turmeric

0.00±0.00

40.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Sweet

fennel

0.00±0.00

30.00±0.00

53.33±5.77

60.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Holy basil

0.00±0.00

30.00±0.00

53.33±5.77

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 2: The average growth inhibition percentage of various plant essential oils against Spodoptera litura adult.

Essential oils

Concentrations (%), (v/v)

Average growth inhibition percentage (%)

0 (control) 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25

Star anise 0.00±0.00

50.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Turmeric 0.00±0.00

50.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Sweet

fennel

0.00±0.00

30.00±0.00

60.00±0.00

100.00±0.00

Holy basil 0.00±0.00

30.00±0.00

53.33±5.77

60.00±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.

The Growth Inhibition Effect of Essential Oils on Spodoptera Litura

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

Essential

oils

Concentrations (%), (v/v)

Average growth period (days)

0 (control) 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25

Star anise

9.33±5.77

8.33±5.77

0.00±0.00

Turmeric

9.33±5.77

9.00±0.00

0.00±0.00

Sweet fennel

9.33±5.77

9.00±0.00Aa 9.00±0.00

8.33±5.77

0.00±0.00

Holy basil

9.33±5.77

9.00±0.00

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 litura caused by various plant essential oils.

Essential oils

Concentrations (%), (v/v)

Average growth period (days)

0 (control) 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25

Star anise 8.33±5.57

8.00±0.00

0.00±0.00

Turmeric 8.33±5.57

8.00±0.00

0.00±0.00

Sweet fennel 8.33±5.57

8.33±5.57

8.00±0.00

0.00±0.00

Hol

basil 8.33±5.57

8.33±5.57

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.

4 DISCUSSION

The results of this study were similar to the results

of others research. For example, turmeric can act as

growth inhibitor on Candida krusei and Candida

parapsilosis (Roth et. al., 1998), the turmeric extract

has repellent activity and growth inhibition effect on

stored grain pests (Jilani and Su, 1983), the

development from pupa into adult stages of house fly

was affected by Chinese star anise crude extract and

the development rate of pupa and adult was less than

that of the control group, and the affected pupa and

adult of house fly were smaller in size than the pupa

and the adult of the control group (Guntharee, 2008),

turmeric reduced radial growth of Mycelia in vitro,

and the turmeric product was also used for pest

management in crop (Damalas, 2011), turmeric

extract had insecticide property against Schistocerca

gregaria and Dysdercus koenigii nymphs and had

mortality effect on nymphs (Chowdhury et. al., 2000),

star anise extract has insecticidal effect and causes

mortality of larva and adult stages on mealworm,

Alphitobius diaperinus (Szczepanik and Szumny,

2011), anise, lime, and tangerine oils tended to have

high efficiency in controlling antifungal on Hevea

brasiliensis and anise oil is the most effective

substance in inhibiting surfaced-mold, Penicilium sp.,

and Aspergillus niger (Matan and Matan, 2008), and

sweet fennel and pignut affected mortality on Apis

mellifera (Abramson

et. al., 2007).

5 CONCLUSION

The turmeric and star anise essential oils have high

growth inhibitory potential on Spodoptera litura.

Therefore, this study provides useful information

which can be used as reference for controlling

Spodoptera litura in the future.

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The Growth Inhibition Effect of Essential Oils on Spodoptera Litura