Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 pp 122 - 133

122

Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants

ISSN Print: 0972-060X Online: 0976-5026
www.jeobp.com

Bioactivity of Essential Oil from Zingiber officinale

(Zingiberaceae) Against Three Stored-Product Insect Species
Mollaei Maedeh 1, Izadi Hamzeh *1, Dashti Hossein 2,
Azizi Majid 3 and Ranjbar Karimi Reza 4
1

Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Vali-e-Asr University, Rafsanjan, Iran

2
Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture,
Vali-e-Asr University, Rafsanjan, Iran
3
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi
University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
4
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Vali-e-Asr University, Rafsanjan, Iran
Received 14 April 2011; accepted in revised form 24 July 2011

Abstract: The indiscriminate use of synthetic pesticides has given rise to many serious problems,
including toxicity to nontarget organisms, development of pest resistance and resurgence and environmental
contamination. So during past three decades, the scientists have looked for less persistent and biodegradable
alternatives. Essential oils from aromatic plants are recognized as proper alternatives. In this experiment,
toxicity of Zingiber officinale (Roscoe) essential oil that was isolated via hydrodistillation was investigated
against adults of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and larvae of the Mediterranean flour
moth, Ephestia kuehniella (Zell.) and Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hbner). Repellency of this oil
on all the three pest species adults was also studied. In determination of fumigant toxicity, the LC50 value for T.
castaneum was calculated 374.95 L/L air after 48 hr of exposure. As well, LC50 for E. kuehniella and P.
interpunctella after 9 hr were calculated 258.95 and 69.05 L/L air, respectively. In contact toxicity assay,
LC50 value for E. kuehniella and P. interpunctella were determined as 0.61 and 0.81 L/cm2, respectively.
Relationship between exposure time and oil concentration on mortality of all species indicated that mortality
was increased by increasing of the oil concentration and exposure time. Repellency of this oil on all the insect
species was significant.
Key words: Tribolium castaneum, Ephestia kuehniella, Plodia interpunctella, repellency,
fumigant toxicity, contact toxicity.
Introduction
Stored grain products can be damaged by insect
pests, resulting in weight loss, reduction in
volume, impairment of germination, contamination by insect feces and body parts and overall
loss of quality. The metabolism of insect infesta*Corresponding author (Izadi Hamzeh)
E-mail: < izadi@vru.ac.ir >

tions results in increased temperature and humidity in stored grain and leads to fungal
development and germination of stored grains 8.
Among the stored-product insects, the red flour
beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella (Zell.)

2013, Har Krishan Bhalla & Sons

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

and Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella
(Hbner) are the three primary and most
destructive pests of stored nuts and grains which
cause severe quantitative and qualitative losses
throughout the world. Alleviation of these pests
problems in storage, relies mostly on synthetic
pesticides and specially methyl bromide and
phosphine. These may have drawbacks, including
toxicity to nontargets or grains, development of
pest resistance and resurgence and environmental
contamination 36,41,45. Hence there is a worldwide
interest in the development of alternative
strategies. Repellents, fumigants, feeding
deterrents and insecticides of natural origin are
all rational alternatives to synthetic pesticides.
Among these potential alternatives, plant derived
insecticides play an important role in traditional
methods of pest control. The plant kingdom can
be a rich source of a variety of chemicals with
the potential for development as successful pest
control agents. The use of natural compounds,
such as essential oils control agents are receiving
increase attention as an alternative because of
their largely accessible and non-toxicity to
humans and the environment. Moreover, essential
oils easily biodegrade in the environment 10,17,26.
Essential oils of botanical origin and their major
components have received great deal of attention
in recent years as potential pest control agents
due to their insecticidal, repellent and/or antifeedant properties. Essential oils are extracted
from various aromatic plants generally localized
in temperate to warm countries. The Zingiberaceae is a tropical monocotyledonous family
comprising several species, of which many are
known to produce essential oils, mainly in their
seeds and rhizomes 21. The Ginger, Zingiber
officinale (Roscoe), as a species of this family, is
a perennial root crop that is cultivated in almost
all the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the
world. Ginger essential oil is a mixture of
constituents, consisting of monoterpenes (1,8cineole, phellandrene, camphene, -pinene,
myrcene, citral, and borneol) and sesquiterpenes
(zingiberene, zingiberol, zingiberenol, bisabolene, -sesquiphellandrene, and arcurcumene). Aldehydes and alcohols are also
present 30,42,46,49. However, its insecticidal bioactivities have not been yet investigated.

123

The present study was, therefore, undertaken

in order to investigate the bioactivities of the
essential oils of Z. officinale against three major
stored-product pests: T. castaneum, E. kuehniella
and P. interpunctella.
Materials and methods
Insects
Adults of red flour beetle were taken from
Division of Plant Protection, Ferdowsi University
of Mashhad. Different developmental stages of
Indianmeal moth and eggs of Mediterranean flour
moth were obtained from Pistachio Research
Center of Rafsanjan and Division of Plant
Protection, Agricultural Research Center of
Mashhad, respectively. Tribolium castaneum,
Ephestia kuehniella and Plodia interpunctella
were reared on wheat flour mixed with yeast (2:1
w/w), wheat flour and pistachio nuts, respectively.
Colonies were maintained in a climate chamber
set at 252C, 655 % RH with a photoperiod of
16:8 (L:D). Mediterranean flour moth and
Indianmeal moth were reared in rectangular
plastic jars (25 cm length, 18 cm width and 10
cm height). Red flour beetle was reared in
columnar plastic container. Plastic funnel covered
with net cloth secured with adhesive glue was
used for egg laying. 1-7 days old adults of red
flour beetle and 12-14 days old larvae of
Indianmeal moth and Mediterranean flour moth
were used for fumigant toxicity tests.
Plant materials
Dry rhizomes of Z. officinale were obtained
from local markets of Mashhad, Iran. The dried
materials were grinded, then hydrodistilled to
extract their essential oil 25.
Extraction of essential oil
Negahban et al. 25 method with some
modification was used for extraction of essential
oil. Essential oil was extracted from the rhizomes
using a Clevenger-type apparatus where the plant
material is subjected to hydrodistillation.
Conditions of extraction were: 200 g dried
rhizomes, 500 ml DW and 3h distillation.
Anhydrous sodium sulphate was used for
removing of water after extraction. Extracted oil
was kept in a refrigerator at 4C.

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

Bioassay
Fumigant toxicity
Keita et al., 13 method with some modification
was used for fumigant toxicity bioassay. Glass
vials (10 ml) were capped with polypropylene
stopper and used for the bioassay. 1-7 days old
adults of red flour beetle, 14-days old larvae of
Mediterranean flour moth and 12-14 days old
larvae of Indianmeal moth were separately
transferred to the vials in the group of 10 insects.
The vials were covered with fine steel gauze
secured with adhesive tape. Different volumes
(5, 7.15, 10.24, 14.65, 20.96 and 30 L for T.
castaneum, 1, 1.58, 2.51, 3.98, 6.31 and 10 L
for E. kuehniella and 0.33, 0.5, 0.75, 1.06, 1.5
and 2.12 L for P. interpunctella) of oil were
placed in a vial and then the vial containing the
insects was turned upside down over the vial
containing the oil such that the oil vapor saturated
the atmosphere of the container containing the
insects.
Similar experimental setup was performed for
control, but no essential oil was used.. This
procedure was replicated 6 times for each
concentration. The vials were placed at 252C,
655 % R.H. with a photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D).
Mortality of beetle adults were counted after 24,
36 and 48 hr, and mortality of moths larvae were
counted after 6, 9 and 12 hr.
Contact toxicity
Kim et al.,14 method with some modifications
was used to evaluate contact toxicity of Z.
officinale essential oil. In this method the
insecticidal activity of essential oil was
determined by direct contact application.
Different volumes (6.55, 8.43, 10.86, 14, 18.03
and 23.23 L for Ephestia kuehniella and 4, 6.03,
8.91, 13.49, 19.95 and 30 L for Plodia
interpunctella) of oil were dissolved in 400 L
acetone and applied to filter papers (Rundfilter
MN, cut into 5.5 cm diameter pieces). Filter paper
was dried under room temperature for 5 min and
put in petri dish (5.5 cm diameter and 1 cm
height). In each set of experiments, ten 14-days
old larvae of Mediterranean flour moth or ten 1214 days old larvae of Indianmeal moth were
placed in petri dishes. Similar experimental setup

124

but without essential oil was performed as

control. Each volume was replicated 6 times.
Mortality was counted after 18 hr.
Repellent activity
Asawalam et al.,4 method with some modifications was used to evaluate repellency of Z.
officinale essential oil. Two 125 mL glass jars
connected together at their rims by means of a
210 cm hyaline nylon tube. A circular hole was
cut at the middle of the tube for the introduction
of test insects. In this devise, it was possible to
test large quantities of materials. Different
volumes of essential oil (0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06,
0.08, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 L) were applied to
filter papers (Rundfilter MN, cut into 2 cm
diameter pieces) by a programmable microsyringe (Stoleting, USA) and placed in the bottom
of one jar. Another jar was untreated and used as
control.
In T. castaneum experiments, 1g grain wheat
was applied in both jars. Twenty 1-7 days old
adults of T. castaneum or ten 1day old adults of
each moth species were introduced into the nylon
tube trough circular hole and the hole was closed
by tape. The number of insects present on control
(Nc) and treated (NT) jars were recorded after 1
hour exposure. There were 4 replications in the
bioassay. Percent of repellency (P R ) were
computed as: PR= [(NC-NT)/(N C+NT)] 100.
Positive values express repellency and negative
values attrctancy. The averages were then
assigned to different classes using the following
scales 45. Each experiment was replicated four
times.
Class
0
I
II
III
IV
V

Percent repulsion
>0.01 to <0.1
0.1-20
20.1-40
40.1-60
60.1-80
80.1-100

Data analyses
Data were analyzed with Minitab 14 software
followed by MSTATC and Duncans multiple

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

range tests to compare effects among treatment
(Data for fumigant effect of the oil on E.
kuehniella were transformed to square-root
values before analysis of variance). Since the
percent mortalities of T. castaneum were scored
zero in control, in order to have residual
normality, mortality was not counted for the 1st,
2nd and 3rd exposure.
The results were expressed as means (SE) of
untransformed data and considered significantly
different at P<0.01. Probit analysis was
conducted to estimate LC50 and LC90 values with
their fiducial limits by POLO-PC 2002 software.
The LC50 and LC90 ratios with their lower and
upper 95 % confidence limits were used to
determine significantly difference between
susceptibility of E. kuehniella and P.
interpunctella larvae. In additions, dose-response
lines were compared to determine parallelism and
equality between P. interpunctella and E.
kuehniella. Furthermore g factor (95 %),
heterogeneity and t ratio were studied 35.
Results
Fumigant toxicity
As it is evident from tables 1, 2 and 3, in all
cases, considerable differences in mortality of
insects to essential oil were observed with
different concentrations and times. The results
of Two-way analysis of variances showed that
effect of oil concentration (F = 50.92; df = 5, 90;
P < 0.001) and time exposure (F = 157.90; df =

125

2, 90; P < 0.001) on mortality of red flour beetle

adults were significant. There was also significant
interaction between oil concentration and time
exposure (F = 3.76; df = 10, 90; P < 0.001). In
control, no mortality was observed on T.
castaneum adults after three times exposure.
Highest mortality of T. castaneum (96.67 %) was
observed after 48 hr, with 1500 L/L air, whereas
there was no significant difference between this
rate and mortality with 732.5 and 1048 l/L air
concentrations.
The LC50 and LC90 values for T. castaneum after
48 hr were estimated 374.95 L/L air and 1124.2
L/L air, respectively. Effect of oil concentration
(F = 45.51; df = 6, 105; P < 0.001) and time
exposure (F = 85.43; df = 2, 105; P < 0.001) on
larval mortality of E. kuehniella were significant,
and interaction between oil concentration and
time exposure on larval mortality was also
significant (F = 3.69; df = 12, 105; P < 0.001).
Effect of oil concentration (F = 37.71; df = 6,
105; P < 0.001) and time exposure (F = 19.03; df
= 2, 105; P < 0.001) on larval mortality of P.
interpunctella were significant and there was no
significant interaction between oil concentration
and exposure time (F = 0.67; df = 12, 105; P =
0.78) on larval mortality. Maximum larval
mortality for E. kuehniella (86.67 %) was
obtained after 12 hr, at 500 L/L air whereas for
P. interpunctella (83.33 %) maximum larval
mortality was obtained after 12 hr at 106 L/L
air.

Table 1. Fumigant activity of Zingiber officinale essential oil against Tribolium castaneum
Concentration
(L/L air)
24
250.0
357.5
512.0
732.5
1048.0
1500.0

3.33
10.00
20.00
16.67
28.33
33.33

2.11h
5.16gh
4.47fgh
4.22fgh
7.49efg
4.22ef`

Mortality (%) meanSE

hours after treatment
36
15.00
28.33
55.00
73.33
71.67
85.00

4.28fgh
5.43efg
5.00cd
7.15bc
3.07bc
6.19ab

48
33.33
45.00
70.00
88.33
88.33
96.67

6.67ef
7.64de
4.47bc
4.77ab
4.01ab
2.11a

Means followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.001; by Duncans multiple
range test).

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

126

Table 2. Fumigant activity of Zingiber officinale essential oil against Ephestia kuehniella larvae
Concentration
(L/L air)
6
0.0
50.0
79.0
125.5
199.0
315.5
500.0

1.67
5.00
6.67
16.67
6.67
15.00
43.33

Mortality (%) meanSE

hours after treatment
9

1.67i
3.41hi
3.33hi
6.15fghi
3.33hi
2.24ghi
8.43cde

1.67
21.67
26.67
38.33
46.67
41.67
73.33

1.67i
7.49efgh
4.94defg
5.43de
5.58bcd
7.92cde
8.03a

12
3.33
28.33
36.67
66.67
63.33
75.00
86.67

2.11hi
6.01defg
6.67def
6.15ab
6.15abc
5.63a
4.94a

Means followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.001; by Duncans multiple
range test).
Table 3. Fumigant activity of Zingiber officinale essential oil against Plodia interpunctella larvae
Concentration
(L/L air)
6
0.00
16.50
25.00
37.50
53.00
75.00
106.0

6.67
8.33
6.67
8.33
31.67
33.33
58.33

Mortality (%) meanSE

hours after treatment
9

3.33b
4.01b
4.22b
3.07b
7.92b
9.19b
8.33a

8.33
10.00
20.00
20.00
48.33
56.67
73.33

3.07b
5.16b
5.77b
6.32b
7.92a
10.85a
7.60a

12
10.00
26.67
26.67
35.00
60.00
65.00
83.33

3.65b
5.58b
7.60b
5.63b
8.56a
8.46a
5.58a

Means followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.001; by Duncans multiple
range test).
The likelihood ratio (LR) test of equality test
showed that probit lines for E. kuehniella and P.
interpunctella were significantly different (2 =
44.80; df= 2; p<0.001), also hypothesis of
parallelism test was rejected and the slopes of
the lines were significantly different (2= 17.10;
df = 1; p<0.001). The LC50 ratios with their lower
and upper 95 % confidence limits (1.28-10.29)
showed that the LC50 value after 9 hr for E.
kuehniella (258.95 L/L air) was significantly
more than LC50 for P. interpunctella (69.05 L/L
air), whereas there was no significant difference
between the LC 90 values after 9 hr for E.

kuehniella (2831.65 L/L air) and P. interpunctella (182.15 L/L air), using the LC90 ratios with
their lower and upper 95 % confidence limits
(0.68 - 351.87).
In all insect species, the statistic g was <0.5,
the heterogeneity factor was <1 and the t ratio
was >1.96, with the exception of heterogeneity
factor for E. kuehniella that it was about 1.67
and showed that the statistic g (95 %) was
affected on the LC values correction. LC50 and
LC95 values with their lower and upper fiducial
limits for all the insect species are shown in
table 4.

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

127

Table 4. LC50 and LC90 values of Zingiber officinale essential oil against Tribolium castaneum
adults (after 48 hr) and Ephestia kuehniella and Plodia interpunctella larvae (after 9 hr)
Insect species

T. castaneum

374.95
(316.4-428.6)
E. kuehniella
258.95
(154.0-707.3)
P. interpunctella
69.05
(58.2-81.5)
a
b

LC90 a,b

LC50 a,b

1124.2
(934.5-1473)
2831.65
(904.7-331131.0)
182.15
(138.4-305.0)

Slope SE

Degree of Chi square

2)
freedom
(

2.690.31

3.13

1.230.22

6.67

3.040.52

3.47

Units LC50 and LC90= L/L air

95 % lower and upper fiducial limits are shown in parenthesis

Contact toxicity
Effect of oil concentration on larval mortality
of E. kuehniella and P. interpunctella was
significant (F = 31.65 and 40.79; df = 6, 35; P <
0.001) (Tables 5 and 6), whereas effect of higher
rate of oil (4.53 L/cm2) on T. castaneum after
96 hr, was too low in primary experiments, so
continue of this experiment was avoided. After
18 hr, highest mortality of E. kuehniella (76.67
%) and P. interpunctella (78.33 %) were observed
with 1.06 L/cm2 and 1.36 L/cm2, respectively.
The likelihood ratio (LR) test of equality test
showed that probit lines for E. kuehniella and P.
interpunctella were significantly different (2=
6.51; df = 2; p = 0.038). Hypothesis of parallelism
test was accepted and the slopes of the lines
werent significantly different (2= 0.09; df = 1;

p = 0.76). LC50 value comparison using the LC50

ratio (1.3) and their lower and upper 95 %
confidence limits (0.999 - 1.74) showed that there
was no significant difference between LC50 value
for E. kuehniella (0.61 L/cm2) and this value
for P. interpunctella (0.81 L/cm2). Comparison
of LC90 values using the LC90 ratio (1.4) and their
lower and upper 95 % confidence limits (0.742.73), showed that there was no significant
difference between LC90 value for E. kuehniella
(1.88 L/cm2) and this value for P. interpunctella
(2.68 L/cm2). For the both species the statistic
g was <0.5, the heterogeneity factor was <1 and
the t ratio was >1.96. LC50 and LC95 values with
their lower and upper fiducial limits are shown
in table 7.

Table 5. Contact toxicity of Zingiber officinale essential oil against Ephesia kuehniella larvae
Concentration (L/cm2)
0.00
0.30
0.38
0.49
0.64
0.82
1.06

Mortality (%) meanSE

8.33
25.00
35.00
48.33
56.67
61.67
76.67

3.07e
3.41d
4.28cd
3.07bc
3.33b
7.03ab
3.33a

Means within a column followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.001; by
Duncans multiple range test).

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

128

Table 6. Contact toxicity of Zingiber officinale essential oil against Plodia interpunctella larvae
Concentration (L/cm2)

Mortality (%) meanSE

0.00
0.18
0.27
0.40
0.61
0.90
1.36

6.67
18.33
23.33
26.67
36.67
58.33
78.33

4.22e
1.67de
4.22cd
3.33cd
4.94c
4.77b
3.07a

Means within a column followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.001; by
Duncans multiple range test).
Table 7. LC50 and LC95 values of Zingiber officinale essential oil against
Ephestia kuehniella and Plodia interpunctella larvae
Insect species

LC50 a,b

TE. kuehniella
0.61(0.52-0.72)
P. interpunctella 0.81(0.61-1.00)
a
b

LC90 a,b
1.88(1.39-3.31)
2.68(1.86-6.41)

Slope SE

2.640.44
2.470.56

Degree of Chi square

2)
freedom
(
4
4

0.95
3.91

Units LC50 and LC90 = L/cm2, applied for 18 h at 25C.

95 % lower and upper fiducial limits are shown in parenthesis

Repellent Activity
In this study, effect of oil concentration on
insects repellency was significant (F= 9.15-24.65;
df= 8, 27; P < 0.001). The results in table 8
demonstrate that Z. officinale essential oil is
highly repellent to adults of T. castaneum, E.
kuehniella and P. interpunctella. It repelled the
insects significantly even at very low concentration. The highest repellency of T. castaneum
adults (85%) was obtained at 1.6 L/L air and
there was no significant difference between

repellency of 0.64 L/L air and repellency of

higher rates. The highest repellency of E.
kuehniella adults (80%) was obtained at 6.4, 0.8
and 3.2 L/L air and there was no significant
difference between repellency of 0.48 L/L air
and repellency of higher rates. Adults of P.
interpunctella were repelled significantly by Z.
officinale at 0.32 L/L air, 0.64 L/L air and
above concentrations. The highest repellency of
P. interpunctella adults (95%) was obtained at
0.8 L/L air.

Table 8. Repellency of Zingiber officinale oil to Tribolium castaneum,

Ephestia kuehniella and Plodia interpunctella
Test insects

T. castaneum

Concentrations
Average
Repellency
(L/L air) repellency (%)
class*
0.08
0.16
0.32

-5.00
25.0
25.0

II
II

Mean no. of
insects repelled
9.50 0.87c
12.50 0.87bc
12.50 1.04bc

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

129

table 8. (continued).
Test insects

T. castaneum

E. kuehniella

P. interpunctella

Concentrations
Average
Repellency
(L/L air) repellency (%)
class*
0.48
0.64
0.80
1.60
3.20
6.40
0.08
0.16
0.32
0.48
0.64
0.80
1.60
3.20
6.40
0.08
0.16
0.32
0.48
0.64
0.80
1.60
3.20
6.40

27.5
50.0
60.0
85.0
77.5
80.0
5.00
-25.0
-5.00
60.0
80.0
80.0
70.0
80.0
40.0
-25.0
-10.0
75.0
50.0
90.0
95.0
80.0
90.0
80.0

II
III
III
V
IV
IV
I
III
IV
IV
IV
IV
II
IV
III
V
V
IV
V
IV

Mean no. of
insects repelled
12.75
15.00
16.00
18.50
17.75
18.00
10.50
7.50
9.50
16.00
18.00
18.00
17.00
18.00
14.00
7.50
9.00
17.50
15.00
19.00
19.50
18.00
19.00
18.00

0.25bc
1.73ab
1.00ab
0.64a
1.11a
1.08a
0.96bc
0.96c
0.96c
1.15a
0.82a
1.15a
0.58a
0.00a
1.15ab
0.96c
1.29c
0.96ab
0.58b
1.00a
0.50a
0.82ab
1.00a
0.82ab

*See Materials and Methods for details

For each insect species, means within a column followed by different letters are significantly
different (P < 0.01; by Duncans multiple range test).
Discussion
Many plant species produce various chemical
compounds that could be repellent or deterrent
or even toxic for plant feeding insects. Some of
these compounds are also toxic to the plant itself,
and therefore they are stored in special organs
such as flowers and seeds. These chemical
weapons are aimed directly against plant feeding
animals 39. Some species of Zingiberaceae plants
have been used for medicinal purposes and some
species have been reported to have biologically
active compounds 7,29.
It is well obvious from our results that insecticidal activity of Z. officinale essential oil varied

with insect species, concentration of the oil,

method of application and exposure time. Z.
officinale contains a sesquiterpenes hydrocarbon;
and the pungent odor appears to be responsible
for its toxic and repellent effect on the insect pests
33
. There are numerous reports on the insecticidal
activity of the essential oils and other products
from Zingiber species 2,27,31,53. Antifeedant and
insect growth disruption activity of crud ginger
extractives have been already reported against
Spodoptera litura larvae 37. Ginger oil or extract
repels the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae in
field-grown tobacco 9; the whitefly, Bemisia
argentifolii in tomato seedlings 53, the maize

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

weevil, Sitophilus zeamais 49. Ginger oil also has
insect growth regulatory and antifeedant activity
against larvae of the arctiid Spilosoma oblique
Walker 2.
In this investigation, insect mortality was
increased significantly with increasing of the oil
concentration and time exposure, which is in
consistent with other researcher s reports
23,24,28,36,39,50
. Also with increasing of oil
concentration, repellency increased significantly,
which is in convenient with results of Asawalam
et al. 4; Ogendo et al. 28; Tripathi and Upadhyay
47
. From our observations, T. castaneum adults
were highly resistant to fumigation and contact
toxicity of Z. officinale essential oil. Arthur 3 and
Fang et al. 6 also indicated that Tribolium spp.
are classified among the least susceptible storedproduct insect pests and often more difficult to
kill than other stored product beetles, though the
order of toxicity will often vary depending on
the particular insecticide. Upon comparing our
determinations of LC50 of Z. officinale essential
oil with other authors, one finds that essential
oils from Rosmarius officinalis, Citrus limonum,
C. auratifolia, Pimenta racemosa and Mentha
piperata 19; Artemisia sieberi 23,25; Vitex pseudonegundo 36; Litsea cubeba 16; Thymus persicus
44
; Pistacia lentiscus 5 were more toxic than Z.
officinale oil against T. castaneum adults.
However, if susceptibility of P. interpunctella
and E. kuehniella to some plant essential oils has
been investigated 39, but no report exists for
comparison of susceptibility of E. kuehniella and
P. interpunctella to Z. officinale and other plant
essential oils. Although Z. officinale essential oil
consists of many constituents, some of them may
exhibit a much higher activity than the whole
essential oil. For example 1,8-cineole (the major
constituent of Z. officinale oil) was reported
earlier as a toxic agent against some of insect
pests and most probably this compound is
responsible for toxicity of Z. officinale oil
1,18,20,34,40
.
In this study although effect of oil concentration
on insect repellency was significant, it was
observed that there was no significant difference
between repellency in some low concentrations
and repellency in higher rates. Moreover,
repellency of E. kuehniella in the highest

130

concentration (6.4 l/L air) was even lower than

repellency in other ones. Its probably due to
distribution of the oil odor throughout the limited
space in the highest rate and therefore no response
of the insect to the oil.
In this investigation, Z. officinale oil was more
repellent than Artemisia scoparia oil (with about
58 % repellency at 6 L/L air) 24 and Prangos
acaulis oil (with maximum 63 % repellency) on
T. castaneum 22. Comparison of repellency of Z.
officinale with other plant essential oils indicated
that Z. officinale oil is more repellent than
Foeniculum vulgare oil (with maximum 34 %
repellency) on P. interpunctella adults; whereas
repellency of this oil is less than repellency of
Rosmarius officinalis oil (100 %) 38. There was
no report for comparison of repellency of Z.
officinale and other plant essential oils on E.
kuehniella.
Repellent properties of several essential oils
regularly appear to be associated with the
presence of monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenes
12,15,43
. Some monoterpenes such as -pinene and
1,8-cineole (the major components of ginger
essential oil) are common constituents of a
number of essential oils described in the
literature, as presenting mosquito repellent
activity 11,12,32,52. Also -pinene, isolated from the
essential oil of Dianthus caryophyllum, showed
strong repellent activity against ticks 48. In
evaluation of repellent activities of some plants
against Anopheles gambiae (Diptera), myrcene
was determined as one of the most effective
repelling chemicals.
Moreover, it was reported that levels of
curcumene (another major component of ginger
essential oil) in several accessions of
Lycopersicon hirsutum are positively correlated
with the repellency of foliage to Tetranychus
urticae Koch 51, so it seems that 1,8-cineole, pinene, myrcene and ar-curcumene are
responsible for repellent activity of Z. officinale
essential oil.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by grant to Dr. H. Izadi.
We are grateful to research vice presidency, Valie-Asr University of Rafsanjan for this research
grant.

Mollaei Maedeh et al. / Jeobp 15 (1) 2012 122 - 133

131

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