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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #331316
Research Project: Biting Arthropod Surveillance and Control

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: Essential oil composition of Pimpinella cypria and its insecticidal, cytotoxic, and antimicrobial activity

Author
item TABANCA, NURHAYAT - University Of Florida
item DERMICI, BETUL - Anadolu Universtiy
item NALBANTSOY, AYSE - Ege University
item Bernier, Ulrich
item AGRAMONTE, NATASHA - University Of Florida
item ALI, ABBAS - Mississippi State University
item Li, Andrew
item YALCIN, HUSNIYE - Ege University
item GUCEL, SALIH - Near East University

Submitted to: Natural Product Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/21/2016
Publication Date: 10/28/2016
Citation: Tabanca, N., Dermici, B., Nalbantsoy, A., Bernier, U.R., Agramonte, N.M., Ali, A., Li, A.Y., Yalcin, H.T., Gucel, S. 2016. Essential oil composition of Pimpinella cypria and its insecticidal, cytotoxic, and antimicrobial activity. Natural Product Communications. 11(10):1531-1534.

Interpretive Summary: Scientists at the USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, University of Florida, University of Mississippi, Cyprus, and Turkey collaborated to identify chemicals in the oil of the Cyprus Burnet-saxifrage, which is plant similar to carrots and found in Cyprus. The essential oil of this shrub, and the chemicals in the oil, were tested for as repellents against Yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti). Based on the results of the study, the oil was six times less repellent than the standard repellent DEET. The oil also was shown to kill mosquito larvae. The results of this study benefit people at risk of mosquito attack throughout the world, and may be of specific use to researchers and commercial entities that are developing new repellents for personal protection from mosquito attack.

Technical Abstract: A water-distilled essential oil from the aerial parts of Pimpinella cypria Boiss. (Apiaceae), an endemic species in northern Cyprus, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Forty-five compounds were identified in the oil and these comprised 81.7% of the total composition. The compound classes in the oil were oxygenated sesquiterpenes (33.9%), sesquiterpenes (22.0%), monoterpenes (11.4%), oxygenated monoterpenes (2.6%) and phenylpropanoids (7.5%). The specific compounds of the oil were (Z)-ß-farnesene (6.0%), spathulenol (5.9%), ar-curcumene (4.3%) and 1,5-epoxy-salvial(4)14-ene (3.8%). The P. cypria oil deterred the yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) from biting at a concentration of 100 µg/cm2 in the in vitro bioassays. The oil was tested for repellency in assays using human volunteers. The oil had a minimum effective dosage (MED) for repellency of 47 ± 41 µg/cm2 against Ae. aegypti, which was about 6 times higher (less efficacious) than positive control N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET), which had a MED of 8 ± 3 µg/cm2). In larval bioassays, P. cypria oil had a LC50 value of 5.4 ppm against 1st instar Ae. aegypti larvae.