Abstract
In spite of intensive research on plant natural products and insect-plant chemical interactions over the past three decades, only two new types of botanical insecticides have been commercialized with any success in the past 15 years, those based on neem seed extracts (azadirachtin), and those based on plant essential oils. Certain plant essential oils, obtained through steam distillation and rich in mono- and sesquiterpenes and related phenols, are widely used in the flavouring and fragrance industries and in aromatherapy. Some aromatic plants have traditionally been used for stored product protection, but the potential for development of pesticides from plant essential oils for use in a wide range of pest management applications has only recently been realized. Many plant essential oils and their major terpenoid constituents are neurotoxic to insects and mites and behaviourally active at sublethal concentrations. Most plant essential oils are complex mixtures. In our laboratory we have demonstrated that individual constituents of oils rarely account for a major share of the respective oil’s toxicity. Further, our results suggest synergy among constituents, including among those that appear non-toxic in isolation. Repellent effects may be particularly useful in applications against public health and domestic pests, but may be useful in specific agricultural applications as well. In all of these applications, there is a premium on human and animal safety that takes priority over absolute efficacy. In agriculture, the main market niche for essential oil-based pesticides is in organic food production, at least in developed countries, where there are fewer competing pest management products. There is also scope for mixing these oils with conventional insecticides and for enhancing their efficacy with natural synergists. Some examples of field efficacy against agricultural pests are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amer A, Mehlhorn H (2006) Repellency effect of forty-one essential oils against Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex mosquitoes. Paristol Res 99:478–490
California Department of Pesticide Regulation (2007) Summary of pesticide use report data 2007, indexed by chemical. Available at: http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pur/pur07rep/chmrpt07.pdf (accessed 10 January 2010)
Enan E (2001) Insecticidal activity of essential oils: octopaminergic sites of action. Comp Biochem Physiol 130:325–337
Enan E (2005a) Molecular and pharmacological analysis of an octopamine receptor from American cockroach and fruit fly in response to plant essential oils. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol 59:161–171
Enan E (2005b) Molecular response of Drosophila melanogaster tyramine response cascade to plant essential oils. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 35:309–321
Gonzalez-Coloma A, Martin-Benito D, Mohamed N, Garcia-Vallejo MC, Soria AC (2006) Antifeedant effects and chemical composition of essential oils from different populations of Lavandula luisieri L. Biochem Syst Ecol 34:609–616
Isman MB (2000) Plant essential oils for pest and disease management. Crop Prot 19:603–608
Isman MB (2006) Botanical insecticides, deterrents and repellents in modern agriculture and an increasingly regulated world. Ann Rev Entomol 51:45–66
Isman MB, Wilson JA, Bradbury R (2008) Insecticidal activities of commercial rosemary oils (Rosmarinus officinalis) against larvae of Pseudaletia unipuncta and Trichoplusia ni in relation to their chemical compositions. Pharmaceut Biol 46:82–87
Jiang Z, Akhtar Y, Bradbury R, Zhang X, Isman MB (2009) Comparative toxicity of essential oils of Litsea pungens and Litsea cubeba and blends of their major constituents against the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni. J Agric Food Chem 57:4833–4837
Kaloustian J, Abou L, Mikail C, Amiot MJ, Portugal H (2005) Southern French thyme oils: chromatographic study of chemotypes. J Sci Food Agric 85:2437–2444
Kostyukovsky M, Rafaeli A, Gileadi C, Demchenko N, Shaaya E (2002) Activation of octopaminergic receptors by essential oil constituents isolated from aromatic plants: possible mode of action against insect pests. Pest Manag Sci 58:1101–1106
Lahlou M, Berrada R (2003) Composition and niticidal activity of essential oils of three chemotypes of Rosmarinus officinalis L. acclimatized in Morocco. Flavour Fragr J 18:124–127
Machial CM, Shikano I, Smirle M, Bradbury R, Isman MB (2010) Evalutation of the toxicity of 17 essential oils against Choristoneura rosaceana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and Trichoplusiani (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Pest Manag Sci (in press)
Miresmailli S, Bradbury R, Isman MB (2006) Comparative toxicity of Rosmarinus officinalis L. essential oil and blends of its major constituents against Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) on two different host plants. Pest Manag Sci 62:366–371
Pavela R (2009) Larvicidal property of essential oils against Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae). Ind Crops Prod 30:311–315
Priestley CM, Williamson EM, Wafford KA, Sattelle DB (2003) Thymol, a constituent of thyme essential oil is a positive allosteric modulator of human GABA receptors and a homo-oligomeric GABA receptor from Drosophila melanogaster. Br J Pharmacol 140:1363–1372
Rice PJ, Coats JR (1994) Insecticidal properties of monoterpenoids derivatives to the house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) and red flour beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Pestic Sci 41:195–202
Schmutterer H (ed) (2002) Azadirachta indica A. Juss and other meliaceous plants: sources of unique natural products for integrated pest management, medicine, industry and other purposes, 2nd edn. Neem Foundation, Mumbai, India, pp 760–779
Tsao R, Lee S, Rice PJ, Jensen C, Coats JR (1995) Monoterpenoids and their synthetic derivatives as leads for new insect-control agents. In: Baker DR, Fenyes JG, Basarab GS (eds) Synthesis and chemistry of agrochemicals IV. American Chemical Society Series 584, Washington, DC, pp 312–324
Yang FL, Li XG, Zhu F, Lei CL (2009) Structural characterization of nanoparticles loaded with garlic essential oil and their insecticidal activity against Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). J Agric Food Chem 57:10156–10162
Acknowledgments
We thank Nancy Brard and Rita Seffrin for insect rearing and/or technical assistance with some of the studies described here. Research by the authors described in this review has been generously supported by EcoSMART Technologies Inc., Ecosafe Natural Products Inc., the BC Greenhouse Growers Association, the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC, MITACS Accelerate BC, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Isman, M.B., Miresmailli, S. & Machial, C. Commercial opportunities for pesticides based on plant essential oils in agriculture, industry and consumer products. Phytochem Rev 10, 197–204 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-010-9170-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-010-9170-4