Research Journal of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, 3(6): 740-747, 2007

2007, INSInet Publication

Chemical Composition of Ocimum americanum Essential Oil and

Its Biological Effects Against, Agrotis ipsilon, (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
1

Shadia E, Abd El-Aziz, 2Elsayed A. Omer and 2Aly S. Sabra

Pests and Plant Protection Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
2
Cultivation and Production of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Department, National
Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract: The seeds of Ocimum americanum were introduced and cultivated in Egypt as a new source
of the essential oil. The growth, yield and essential oil of O. americanum were studied during two
successive seasons. Chemical constituents of the essential oil were studied with (GLC). The mean values
of the growth parameters of the second cut in both seasons were higher than those of the first cuts.
Essential oil percentage ranged from 0.175% to 0.253% in both seasons, while the essential oil yield
ranged from 27.8 to 41.69 liter per feddan. The total yield of the essential oil reached 60 and 76 liter per
feddan in the first and second season, respectively. Eugenol was identified as the major compound in the
essential oil and accounted for 28.46 %. Methyl chavicol was found to be the second main compound and
reached 17.34%. The insecticidal properties of the American basil essential oil and its major component
were evaluated against the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon in laboratory and a semi field trail. There was
a positive correlation between the concentration and the percentage of larval mortality and malformed
pupae and adult. Basil oil at 3% (conc.), only 35 % of the larvae reached the pupal stage with 67.16 %
reduction than control and 13 % of the pupae were deformed. Eugenol caused 40 % larval mortality with
36.84 % reduction in pupation % than control. Pupal weights were significantly lower than control. In
semi field experiment, basil oil was more effective on adult longevity than eugenol. Basil oil had repellent
effect on A.ipsilon moths with 66.42 and 35.95% repellency at (3 % ) in case of basil oil and eugenol,
respectively. The basil essential oil was more effective than its active component (eugenol) on the
concerned biological aspects of A.ipsilon.
Keywords: Ocimum americanum, essential oil, eugenol, GLC, black cutworm, A. ipsilon, repellency,
insecticidal activity.
mycoides, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, Vibrio cholerae,
Staph. albus, Sal. paratyphi and Xanth. campestris.
Also O. americanum oil showed antifungal activity
against a great number of fungi which included some
human pathogens. The antimicrobial activity of O.
americanum oil was studied [1 ].
The black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon ( Huf.) is one
of the most severe insect pests in Egypt, this noctuid
is polyphagous and attacks a large number of field and
vegetable crops. The growers usually use the
conventional insecticides, especially organophosphates,
in controlling this pest. However, the use of pesticides
has
resulted
in environmental contamination [2 ]
negative effects o n n o n ta rg et o rganism s [ 3 ] .
Plantderived extracts and phytochemicals have been
shown to possess insecticidal activity [4 ,5 ,6 ]. The natural
plant products showed also a strong disruption
of insect growth and development against a variety
of insect pests, e.g. Spodoptera exempta [7 ], S. littoralis
( Boisd.) [8 ], Agrotis ipsilon ( Huf.) [9 ,1 0 ].

INTRODUCTION
The genus Ocimum family labiatae (lamiaceae) has
long been used as a medicinal and aromatic plant in
many countries, i.e. Egypt, India, Greece, Italy,
Morocco and others. It contains between 50 to 150
species of herbs and shrubs from tropical and
subtropical regions of Asia, Africa as well as central
and South America.
Ocimum americanum, L. (Syn. O.canum), hoary
basil or mosquito plant has three distinct chemo-types:
floral-lemony, camphoraceous and spicy. From the
pharmacological point of view, it was found that the
essential oil obtained from O. americanum showed
antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus,
S trep to m yces p yo g enes, Escherechia coli and
Salmonella typhosa. Antitubercular activity against
Mycobacterium spp at 100 ppm concentration. The
essential oil from the leaves exhibited antibacterial
activity against Xanthomonas malvacearum, Bacilluls

Corresponding Author: Shadia E, Pests and Plant Protection Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
E-mail: shadia_abdelaziz2001@hotmail.com
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Res. J. Agric. & Biol. Sci., 3(6): 740-747, 2007

Essential oils may have attractive or repellent
effects and in some cases they showed an insecticidal
action against insects. Essential oils isolated from
plants and consisting of cyclic and monocyclic monoterpens are effective repellents against insects [1 1 ] .
Abd El-A ziz and El-Hawary [1 2 ] reported that the
percentage of adult emergence in the case of basil,
garlic and cumin was 50, 70 and 97% as compared to
95 % in the control. All female moths resulting from
larvae fed on leaves treated with basil for 24 hrs were
deformed and all died before oviposition. Cavalcanti et
al., [1 3 ]reported that the essential oils of O. americanum
and O. gratissimun had larvicidal activity against Aades
aegypti mosquito and caused 100% mortality at a
concentration of 100 ppm. O. americanum showed
toxicity to the hairy caterpillar, Euproctis fraternal[1 4 ].
The present study aimed to evaluate the
insecticidal properties of the American basil essential
oil and its major active component against the black
cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon in laboratory and a semi field
trail.

apart and 30 cm between hills. Surface irrigation with

Nile water was used for irrigating plants as necessary.
W eed control was carried out manually for the whole
duration of the growing season.
Selected 10 random plants of each plot were used
for recording the vegetative growth parameters in each
cutting. The plants were harvested (cut) two times
during each growing season and then the plants were
left for seed setting. The first cut was done on July
15 th during the flowering stage, and the second cut on
October 1 st by cutting the vegetative parts of the plants
10 cm above the soil surface.
Plant height (cm)., plant diameter (cm)., number of
branches/plant., fresh weight of herb (g/plant),.fresh
w eight of leaves (g/plant), fre sh we ight of
inflorescences (g/plant), dry weight of herb (g/plant),
dry weight of leaves (g/plant), dry weight of
inflorescences (g/plant), fresh yield of herb (ton/fed),
dry yield of herb (ton/fed). Fresh yield of leaves
(ton/fed), dry yield of leaves (ton/fed)., essential oil %
on the basis of fresh weight., essential oil content
(ml/plant)., essential oil yield (l/fed.) and the main
constituents of the essential oil of each treatment were
recorded for each cut. Fresh weight was recorded
immediately after harvesting and the dry weight was
determined after an initial drying in the oven at 60C
to a constant weight. The yield of essential oil
produced per plant was calculated by multiplying the
average of fresh herb weight of plant by the average of
oil percentage.

M ATERIAL AND M ETHODS

M aterials:
Plant M aterial: Seeds of American basil plant
(Ocimum
americanum
L.)
have
been kindly
provided from the Ornamental Plant Department
of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, through
a scientific exchange. For propagation, the seeds
were cultivated in 2003 and a flowering specimen
was prepared and sent to Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK for identification. Dr.
Alan J. Paton kindly determined the specimen as
Ocimum americanum L. var. pilosum (W illd) A. J.
Paton. Samples from the soil were taken before
cultivation and were subjected for physical and
chemical analysis according to Jackson [1 5 ]. The physical
analysis indicated clearly that the texture of the soil is
sandy loam.
In
both season, the soil was mechanically
ploughed and planked twice. During preparation of
the soil for cultivation mixture of calcium super
phosphate (15.5% P 2 O 5 ) as a source of phosphorus
and potassium sulfate (48% K 2 O) as a source of
potassium was added at the rate of 200 and 100 kg
per
feddan,
respectively and was mixed well
manually with the soil. The nitrogen fertilization was
performed with 80 kg nitrogen per feddan as
ammonium nitrate (33% nitrogen). The dose was
divided into two portions.
American basil seeds were sown on 1stth March,
2004 and 2005 in the nursery. On 15 th April 2004 and
2005, the uniform healthy basil seedlings (10 cm
length) were transplanted into the field on rows 60 cm

Essential Oil Extraction, Determination and

Analysis: The extraction of the essential oil was
carried out at the laboratory of Cultivation and
Production of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (NRC),
Dokki, Cairo, while gas liquid chromatographic (GLC)
analysis was carried out at the Central Laboratory of
NRC. To extract and quantify the volatile oil, a weight
of 100 g of fresh herb of each cut in both seasons was
separately subjected to hydro-distillation for over 3
hours using a modified Clevenger apparatus according
to Guenther[1 6 ] . The volume of the extracted essential
oil was determined and recorded on the basis of the
herb fresh weight.
The resulted oil was dehydrated over anhydrous
sodium sulfate and stored in glass vials at freezer in
the absence of light till used for gas liquid
chromatographic (GLC) analysis. GLC analysis of the
oil samples was carried out in the second season using
Hewlett Packard gas chromatograph apparatus with
specifications indicated in (Table 1).
Main compounds of the essential oil were
identified by matching their retention times with those
of the authentic samples injected under the same
conditions. The relative percentage of each compound
was calculated from the peak area of the peak
corresponding to each compound.

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Res. J. Agric. & Biol. Sci., 3(6): 740-747, 2007

Bioassay Procedure: Susceptible strains of the black
cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon were reared on castor oil
plant leaves away from any insecticidal contamination
under controlled laboratory conditions at 28 2C and
65 5 % R.H.
The Basil oil and eugenol emulsions were prepared
as follows: 5 drops of "Triton X-100 as emulsifier was
mixed thoroughly with 5ml of each tested oil, then
water was added to obtain the desired concentrations
(five concentrations for each) in percent of (v/w).
Suspension of water with Triton was used as check.

hand sprayer 1 liter capacity. Another 20 pots

were
sprayed
with
water
and
emulsifier as
untreated check. Pots (5 treated + 5 untreated in
random) were placed in a wooden cage (100 X 100
X 125 cm), covered with screen wire in choice
test. Thirty pairs of nearly emerged moths were
taken from the standard laboratory culture, introduced
in the cage with the sprayed cotton potted plants
and control. Each test was replicated 3 times. Eggs
laid
on the potted plants inside the cage were
collected daily from each test. The number of eggs
deposited on treated or untreated plants was counted
and the percent repellency values were calculated
according to the equation of Lwande et al.,[1 7 ] D = (1T/C) X 100, where T and C represent the mean
number of deposited eggs per female of the treated and
check set, respectively. The male and female
longevities were also determined.

Insecticidal Activity of Basil Oil and Eugenol on the

Developmental Stages of A. Ipsilon: The insecticidal
effect of both basil essential oil and its major
ingredient (eugenol) in baits was evaluated by feeding
the 4 th larval instar of A.ipsilon for two days. The
control bait consisted of 1.0 gm molasses (as feeding
stimulants) and 125 gm wheat bran moistened with 100
ml water (as a carrier material). The baits were mixed
with botanical oils at 0.5 g of each, and used at the
recommended rate. Twenty 4 th instar larvae of A.
ipsilon were feeding on treated bait with one of Basil
or eugenol concentrations for 48 hrs.. Five replicates

Statistical Analysis: W as Adopted According to

Snedecor and Cochran [1 8 ].
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Growth Parameters: Results in (Table2) indicated
that, the mean values of the growth parameters of the
second cut in both seasons were higher than those of
the first cuts, which could be attributed to the fact that,
cutting stimulated branching and increased new shoots
which incorporate into more accumulation of dry
matter. In addition, temperature seemed more favorable
for plant development.

Table 1: H ewlett Packard gas chrom atograph apparatus with the

following specifications
Instrum ent:
(H P) 6890 Series H ewlett Pakard
Colum n:
H P (Carbwax 20M )
(25m length X 0.32 m m I.D )
Film thickness: 0.3 M m
Sam ple size:
1m l
O ven Tem perature:
60C-190C
Program :
60C /2m in, 8C /m in, 190C /25 m in.
Injection port tem perature :
240C
Carrier gas:
N itrogen
D etector tem perature (FID ):
280C
Flow rates:
N 2 30 m l/m in
H 2 30 m l/m in
Air 300 m l/m in

Essential Oil Percentage and Yield: In Resultus

in
table
(2)
indicated that both seasons, oil
percentage was higher in the first cut (in July) than
those of the second cut (in October). These differences
can probably be attributed to differences in
environmental factors, i.e. temperature (air and soil),
light levels and moisture conditions. The synthesis
of secondary metabolites has been related to the
capture of light energy [1 9 ,2 0 ]. The environmental factors
appear to expert a greater influence on the
accumulation of total oil rather than on the chemical
composition of basil plants [2 1 ].
The mean value of oil yield (ml/plant) of the
first cut was higher than that of the second cut
by 15.7% in the first season. The opposite was true
in the second season, in which the second cut was
higher in the mean value of oil content by 20%.
Although the oil percentage in the first cut of the
second season was greater than the second cut, the
trend of the oil content (ml/plant) was the opposite.
This may be attributed to the superiority of the
second cut in producing highest herbage yield (g/plant).
This means that, the increment in the oil percentage
was not able to overcome the differences in the fresh
weight between both cuts.

were used for each tested concentration. After feeding,

the larvae were kept in clean glass jars provided with
untreated castor oil plant leaves till pupation. Larval
mortality %, pupation % and malformed pupae % were
calculated. Also, percentage of adult emergence,
malformed adults % and egg hatchability % were
recorded.
O vipostional Inhibition and Repellency Tests: The
efficiency of basil oil concentrations and its active
ingredient (eugenol) were carried out in semi field
experiment at the farm of the National Research
Centre, Dokki, G iza. Fifty pots (20 cm diam.) each
contained 5 cotton seedling plants, Gossypium
barbadense var.Giza-78, (30 days after sowing).
Five pots were sprayed with one of tested
concentrations (3& 2 %) of basil and eugenol by using

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Res. J. Agric. & Biol. Sci., 3(6): 740-747, 2007

Table 2: Growth, yield and essential oil of O cim um am ericanum grown in Egypt in two seasons.
Plant Character
First season
Second season
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 st cut
2 n d cut
M ean
1 st cut
2 n d cut
M ean
Plant H eight (cm )
63.31
68.50
65.90
62.00
64.77
63.38
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Plant diam eter (cm )
48.00
52.75
50.36
47.02
49.77
48.39
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------N um ber of branches
13.91
15.20
14.55
13.76
16.06
14.90
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fresh weight (g/plant)
670.1
834.5
752.3
767.3
984.4
875.8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------leaves fresh weight (g/plant)
161.6
172.2
166.9
198.2
206.0
202.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Inflorescences fresh weight (g/plant) 107.6
133.2
120.4
123.8
146.4
135.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------H erb dry weight (g/plant)
143.1
168.8
155.9
168.5
199.0
183.7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leaves dry weight (g/plant)
27.01
31.13
29.08
31.87
34.07
32.97
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Inflorescences dry weight (g/plant)
32.57
38.10
35.33
36.77
35.52
36.14
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------H erb fresh yield (ton/fed)
12.66
15.76
Total
14.49
18.59
Total
28.42
33.09
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------H erb dry yield (ton/fed)
2.705
3.216
Total
3.184
3.775
Total
5.921
6.960
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leaves fresh yield (ton/fed)
3.053
3.255
Total
3.747
3.892
Total
6.309
7.639
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leaves dry yield (ton/fed)
0.510
0.588
Total
0.602
0.643
Total
1.098
1.245
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Essential oil percentage
0.253
0.175
0.214
0.237
0.222
0.229
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Essential oil content (m l/plant)
1.69
1.46
Total
1.82
2.20
Total
3.16
4.02
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Essential oil yield (l/fed)
32.15
27.80
Total
34.49
41.69
Total
59.95
76.18

Essential Oil Composition: Data Tabled in Table (3)

revealed that Eugenol was identified as the major
compound and reached for 28.46%. Methyl chavicol
was found to be the second main compound and
accounted for 17.34% in the essential oil. Terpineol
was identified as the third main constituent in the
essential oil and its relative percentage accounted for
ca. 15%. Farnesene was identified as the main
sesquiterpene with 9.2% while -Bisabolene was
identified as the second sesquiterpene in the essential
oil and reached 4.5 %. The same trend observed with
farnesene was observed with -bisabolene. 1, 8-Cineole
and limonene followed farnesene in the relative
percentage and all treatments showed round figure of
7.0 % of either cineole or limonene. It is of interest to
mention that, the percentage of linalool or camphor
didnt exceed more than 2% in the essential oil.
This meant that O. americanum is a dual
biosynthetic pathway, in which two biosynthetic
pathways can be thought of functioning either
independently or simultaneously. One of them starts

with shikimic acid via phenylalanine to produce methyl

chavicol and eugenol. The second starts with mevalonic
acid via geranyl pyrophosphate to produce linalool,
then eugenol.
The total amounts of monoterpene hydrocarbons
accounted for 19.0 while the oxygenated compounds
reached 76% in the identified compounds.
Insecticidal Activity of Basil Oil and Eugenol on the
Developmental Stages of A. Ipsilon: The data in
Tables (4&5) indicated that, the basil essential oil was
more effective than its active component (eugenol) on
the concerned biological aspects of A.ipsilon. There
was a positive correlation between the concentration
and the percentage of larval mortality and malformed
pupae and adult. On the other hand, there was a
negative correlation between the concentration and
pupal weight, pupation, adult emergence and egg
hatchability. The effect was more pronounced at the
higher tested concentration. Basil oil at 3% (conc.),
only 35 % of the larvae reached the pupal stage with

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Res. J. Agric. & Biol. Sci., 3(6): 740-747, 2007

Table 3: The relative percentage of the m ain constituents of the essential oil of O cim um am ericanum , L as analyzed with GLC.
Com ponents
RRt
Relative Percentage
M olecular weight
Chem ical form ula
-pinene
0.110
0.486
136
C 1 0H 1 6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------pinene
0.128
0.755
136
C 1 0H 1 6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------M yrcene
0.150
0.995
136
C 1 0H 1 6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Terpinene
0.178
0.261
136
C 1 0H 1 6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lim onene
0.216
7.530
136
C 1 0H 1 6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1,8 Cineole
0.244
7.347
154
C 1 0H 1 8O
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Cam phor
0.528
1.712
152
C 1 0H 1 6O
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Linalool
0.539
1.827
154
C 1 0H 1 8O
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Linalyl acetate
0.579
0.711
196
C 1 0H 1 8O
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Farnesene
0.606
9.149
204
C 1 5H 2 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bisabolene
0.637
4.526
204
C 1 5H 2 4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------M ethyl chavicol
0.658
17.338
148
C 1 0H 1 2O
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Terpineol
0.697
14.997
154
C 1 0H 1 8O
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------M ethyl eugenol
0.881
0.365
178
C 1 1H 1 4O 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Eugenol
1.000
28.460
164
C 1 0H 1 2O 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Iso eugenol
1.026
1.180
164
C 1 0H 1 2O 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Farnesol
1.137
0.490
222
C 1 5H 2 6O
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------N on-oxygenated com pounds %
19.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------O xygenated com pounds %
76.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Identified com pounds %
95.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------N on-identified com pounds %
5.00
Table 4: Latent biological effects of Basil oil when (4 th instar A.ipsilon larvae) fed on treated baits for (2days).
Egg H atchability
Adult M alform ation
Adult Em ergency
M alform ed
Pupal weight +
Pupation
Larval M ortality
conc.
(% )*
(% )
(% ) *
Pupae (% )
S.E.(m g) (range)
(% ) *
(% )
(% )
45
11
22
13
289.7+ 2.28
35
65
3
(54.08)
(76.84)
(280 300) f
(63.16)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------62
7
43
10
315.5+ 1.29
53
47
2
(36.74)
(54.74)
(310 321) e
(44.21)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------70
3
75
10
325.3+ 1.35
65
35
1
(28.57)
(21.05)
(319 331) d
(31.58)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------91
0.0
79
3
338.4+ 1.27
82
18
0.5
(7.14)
(16.84)
(333 345) c
(13.68)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------97
0.0
95
0.0
350.6+ 1.02
95
5
0.25
(1.02)
(0.0)
(345 355) b
(0.0)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------98
0.0
95
0.0
358.2+ 1.62
95
5
Control
----(350 367) a
-M eans followed by the sam e letter are not significantly different AN O VA(LSD ) p> 0.05
* N um bers between brackets represent percent reduction than control

744

Res. J. Agric. & Biol. Sci., 3(6): 740-747, 2007

67.16 % reduction than control and 13 % of the pupae
were deformed. Eugenol caused 40 % larval mortality
(Table 5) with 36.84 % reduction in pupation % than
control. Pupal weights were significantly lower than
control and there were significantly differences between
all tested concentrations and control in case of basil oil
and eugenol. The reduction in percentage of adult
emergence at 3 % and 2 % of basil reached 76.84 and
54.74 %, respectively. The deformities among adult
reached 11% and 7 % at 3 and 2 % basil, respectively.
Abd El-Aziz and El Hawary[1 2 ] reported that the
percentage of adult emergence in the case of basil (O.
basilicum), garlic and cumin were 50, 70 and 97% as
compared to 95 % in the control. All female moths
resulting from larvae fed on leaves treated with basil
for 24 hrs were deformed and all died before
oviposition. The reduction in egg hatchability %
(Table 4) was significantly high (54.08 and 36.74 %)
in case of 3 and 2 % concentration, respectively.
This reduction in egg hatchability may be due to
physiological disturbance in the hormonal system of
adult when fed as larvae ( 4 th instar ) on treated leaves.
Results indicated that the essential oil of basil
possesses both behavioural effects and post digestive
toxicity. Abd El-Aziz and El Hawary[1 2 ] mentioned that
basil, O. basilicum showed an insecticidal action
against S.littoralis larvae (80% larval mortality).
Extracts of basil were screened for juvenile hormone
like activity and showed an active effect against
Dysdercus cingulatus (F.) [2 4 ].

male lived longer than adult female. The adult

longevities were greatly reduced in case of basil oil
compared with eugenol and control. Basil oil was more
e ffe c tive o n a d ult lo nge vity tha n e uge n o l .
Schmutterer[2 5 ] who found that, the adult longevity of
many insect species was shortened after application of
higher concentrations of neem extracts or of
azadirachtin. The effect was more pronounced at the
higher concentrations.Abd El-Rady and Osman [2 6 ]
mentioned that Neemix reduced the adult longevities of
A.ipsilon compared with control and this may be due
to the reduction in their weights and inhibition of
proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. It is clearly evident
that the fecundity of A.ipsilon females was more
affected by basil oil than eugenol (Table 4). Basil oil
had repellent effect on A.ipsilon moths with 66.42 and
61.12 % repellency at 3 and 2 %, respectively. Abd El
Aziz and El Hawary [1 2 ] reported that basil; O. basilicum
gave 94.34% repellency to S. littoralis moths. In case
of basil oil (3 % conc.) the number of deposited eggs
per female was 450 and 1340 eggs / & on treated and
untreated cotton plants, respectively with 66.42 %
repellency. W hile in case of eugenol (3%), the number
of deposited eggs per female was 850 and 1327
eggs / & on treated a nd untre ate d cotton
plants,respectively. AboelGhar et al.,[2 7 ] found that,
acetone and ethanol extracts of zanzalakht caused
decrease in number of eggs / & and % of egg hatching
of A. ipsilon.
Essential
oils
isolated
from
plants and
consisting of cyclic and monocyclic mono-terpens
are effective repellents against insects [1 1 ]. The ideal
essential oil insecticide would consist of compounds
that are active against pest arthropods, while being
harmless to beneficial and safe for humans and the
environment.

Ovipostional Inhibition and Repellency Tests: In

semi field experiment, data in Table (6) showed that
the longevity of exposed male and female of A.ipsilon
moths was considerably affected by the tested basil oil
as well as its active component (eugenol). The adult

Table 5: Latent biological effects of eugenol when (4 th instar A. ipsilon larvae) fed on treated baits for (2days).
Egg H atchability
M alform ed
Adult Em ergency
M alform ed
Pupal weight +
Pupation
Larval M ortality
Conc.
(% ) *
Adult (% )
(% ) *
Pupae (% )
S.E.(m g) (range)
(% ) *
(% )
(% )
75
5
53
7
300.5+ 1.71
60
40
3
(23.47)
(44.21)
(294 310) e
(36.84)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------80
2
65
5
322.7 +2.44
70
30
2
(18.37)
(31.58)
(310335) d
(26.32)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------88
1
74
4
333.5+2.41
78
22
1
(10.20)
(22.11)
(320 345) c
(17.89)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------91
0.0
90
0.0
346.7 + 2.76
90
10
0.5
(7.14)
(5.26)
(335 360) b
(5.26)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------97
0.0
95
0.0
355.7+ 3.2 1
95
5
0.25
(1.02)
(0.0)
(330 368 ) ab
(0.0)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------98
0.0
95
0.0
358.2+ 1.62
95
5
C o n tro l
----(350 367) a
--M eans followed by the sam e letter are not significantly different AN O VA(LSD ) p> 0.05
* N um bers between brackets represent percent reduction than control

745

Res. J. Agric. & Biol. Sci., 3(6): 740-747, 2007

Table 6: O viposition inhibitory effects of Basil oil and eugenol against A. ipsilon m oths on cotton seedlings in sem ifield trial (Choice test).
Tested oil
O IL C O N CS.( % )
Longevity days S.E. (range)
M ean N o. of eggs/fem ale S.E.(range)
Repellency %
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fem ale
M ale
Treated
Control
Basil
3
3.0 0.71
4.2 0.44
450 7.91
1340 3.54
66.42
(1- 5 )
(2 -6 )
(435 - 480)
(1330 - 1350)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Basil
2
4.6 0.51
6.8 0.39
512 6.04
1317 4.90
61.12
(3 -5)
(4 8)
( 495 525 )
(1300 1330)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Eugenol
3
8.8 0.66
10.0 0.37
850 7.08
1327 3.74
35.95
(7 11)
(7 12 )
(830 870)
(1320 1340)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Eugenol
2
9.2 0.88
10.0 0.47 1034 16.31
1334 5.09
23.49
(7 12)
(8 12)
(990 1070)
(1320 1340)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Control
10.4 0.51
11.2 0.56
(9 12)
(9 14 )

The foregoing results indicate that the basil

essential oil has properties which cause larval mortality,
retardation in the developmental stages, pupal and adult
morphogenesis, reduction in fecundity and viability and
repellency of A.ipsilon and this may be correlated to
the chemical constituents of this oil (Table3). For
instance, the effect of tannins in growth inhibition of
lepidopterous larvae was reported by Klock and
Chan [2 8 ]. Sesquiterpene lactones isolated from a number
of species of the family Asteraceae proved to be
excellent feeding deterrents for pest insects. In cotton
varieties of Gossypium hirsutum L.), family Malvaceae
in addition to gossypol, other related terpenoids,
condensed tannins and certain monomeric flavonoids
also provide resistance to several pest insects [2 9 ].
The monoterpene 1, 8-cineole reduced oviposition rate
of Thrips tabaci, by about 30% [3 0 ]. Essential oils
isolated from plants and consisting of cyclic and
monocyclic mono-terpens are effective repellents
against insects [1 1 ].
Assessment of the biological activity of O.
americanum volatile oil constituents
against A.
ipsilon will contribute to the development of
toxicity, retardation in the developmental stages
and oviposition repellent for use in both biological
and integrated pest management strategies of
cotton plants.

4.

Champagne, D.E., M .B. Isman and G.H. Neil

T o w e r s , 1 9 8 9 . I n s e c t i c id a l a c ti v i t y o f
phytochemicals and extracts of the Meliaceae.
(In: Arnason, J. T., Philogene, B.J.R. and Morand,
P. (eds.), Insecticides of Plant Origin, ACS Symp.
Ser. 387, W ashington, D.C.).
5. Sharma, R.N., V. Tare, P. Pawar and P.H. Vartak,
1992. Toxic effects of plant oils and their common
constituents on the psyllid pest, Heteropsylla
cubana (Homoptera: Psyllidae) of social forestry
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27: 385-387.
6. Yoshida, H.A. and N .C. Toscano, 1994.
Comparative effects of selected natural insecticides
on Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
larvae. J Econ Entomol, 87: 305-310.
7. Tanzubil, P.B . and A.R. McCaffery, 1990. Effects
of azadrachtin and aqueous neem seed extracts on
survival, growth and development of the African
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8. Abd El-Aziz Shadia E, and E.A. Omer, 1995.
Bioevaluation of dodonaea, Dodonaea viscosa L.
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