Investigations on essential oils of selected Australian flora, in particular those containing AY-triketones, for activity against arthropods

Abstract

Insecticides of botanical origin have played an important role in human attempts to manage arthropod pests. In addition, they have provided templates for synthesis of novel compounds, associated with their modes or action and/or biochemical target(s). Numerous investigations have been conducted, including many recently, on the arthropod activity of plant extracts and essential oil in many regions of the world, including the Americas, Europe and Asia. However, similar work has not been conducted in Australia. It was hypothesised there was a high likelihood that novel secondary compounds with significant insecticidal activity occurred in Australian plant species, in particular within essential oils of the family Myrtaceae. The key objectives of this work were to: (1) identify essential oils with high bioactivity, in particular those exhibiting insecticidal/acaricidal activity; (2) to elucidate the chemistry and identify the active component(s) of highly active oils; (3) to determine activity and host range of selected, highly active oil(s)/components; and (4) to conduct studies to determine mode(s) of action and possible use(s) of the selected oil(s)/components.

Date of Award	2013
Original language	English