Efficacy of spearmint oil and powder as alternative of chemical control against C. maculatus in Cowpea Seeds

Document Type : Original Article

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Pesticides department faculty of Agriculture kafr-El-Shiekh University, 33516 Egypt

Abstract

Alternative and safe control methods for stored product pests are in demand. Powder and essential oil of Mentha viridis plant leaves were tested under laboratory conditions for its ability to protect cowpea seeds against Callosobruchus maculatus with the respect to adult's mortality, hatchability of laid eggs and emergency of selected insect. Moreover, GC-MS analysis was carried out to identify the possible biologically active components from spearmint oil. Furthermore, the effect of spearmint oil and powder  on the germination of cowpea seeds was also investigated. The insect was reared and tested on whole cowpea grain. The efficacy of these plant products was evaluated relative to malathion insecticide as standard compound to protect cowpea grains against C. maculatus. The results showed that, the oil and powdered of M.  viridis were effective against C. maculatus insect with the respect to mortality of insect adults. Also, the oil and powdered products of Mentha viridis significantly reduced the number of eggs laid, hatchability and subsequently the emergency of C. maculatus insect relative to control treatment. Slight effect of spearmint products (oil and powder) on the germination of cowpea seeds relative to control was recorded. The efficacy of spearmint oil and powder against the tested insect due to the presence of different compounds that known by its insecticidal activity. The results suggested that, the spearmint oil and powder are promising as alternative of chemical control against C. maculatus in cowpea seeds to overcome resistance of the insect against insecticides and reduce the environmental pollution.

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