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The potential use of thymol and (R)-(+)-pulegone as detoxifying enzyme inhibitors against Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

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Abstract

Detoxifying enzyme inhibitors are being used in insecticide formulations to restore insect susceptibility. Essential oils, also known as biopesticides, are volatile plant secondary metabolites. This study aimed to determine the potential of two essential oil constituents (thymol and (R)-(+)-pulegone) to act against the detoxifying enzymes of Spodoptera litura. Thymol and (R)-(+)-pulegone were studied on the third instar larvae of S. litura by topical application under laboratory conditions. Thymol and (R)-(+)-pulegone were found to be highly toxic to S. litura (24 h LC50 values of ~5.61 and 8.35 μg/larva, respectively) and significantly decreased the activity of carboxylesterases and cytochromes P450. Moreover, thymol (1.79 and 3.51 μg/larva) and (R)-(+)-pulegone (2.56 and 5.15 μg/larva) had a significantly higher inhibitory effect on carboxylesterase activity than the commercial inhibitor triphenyl phosphate (16 μg/larva). The results indicated that thymol and (R)-(+)-pulegone have the potential to be used as alternative inhibitors to develop insecticide formulations for controlling the agricultural insect pest S. litura.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Walailak University (Grant No. WU64231). The authors would like to thank the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University for facilitating experiment equipment and also thanks to ISB fund from Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University.

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  1. Division of Biology, School of Science, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

    Torranis Ruttanaphan

  2. Animal Toxicology and Physiology Specialty Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Vasakorn Bullangpoti

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  1. Torranis Ruttanaphan
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T.R. and V.B. designed the experiments, conducted the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. All the authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Vasakorn Bullangpoti.

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Ruttanaphan, T., Bullangpoti, V. The potential use of thymol and (R)-(+)-pulegone as detoxifying enzyme inhibitors against Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Phytoparasitica 50, 913–920 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-022-00989-1

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