Acaricidal and Antioxidant Activities of Anise Oil ( Pimpinella anisum ) and the Oil’s Effect on Protease and Acetylcholinesterase in the Two-Spotted Spider Mite ( Tetranychus urticae Koch)

Salwa M. El-Sayed, Nevin Ahmed, Samy Selim, Areej A. Al-Khalaf, Nihal El Nahhas, Shams H. Abdel-Hafez, Samy Sayed, Heba M. Emam and Mervat A. R. Ibrahim
Additional contact information
Salwa M. El-Sayed: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra El-Kheima, P.O. Box 68, Hadayek Shoubra, Cairo 11241, Egypt
Nevin Ahmed: Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Benha 13736, Egypt
Samy Selim: Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
Areej A. Al-Khalaf: Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
Nihal El Nahhas: Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21526, Egypt
Shams H. Abdel-Hafez: Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
Samy Sayed: Department of Science and Technology, University College-Ranyah, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
Heba M. Emam: Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra El-Kheima, Cairo 11241, Egypt
Mervat A. R. Ibrahim: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra El-Kheima, P.O. Box 68, Hadayek Shoubra, Cairo 11241, Egypt

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae , also known as the red spider, is one of the most harmful pests in agriculture and causes large losses of many crops. These mites have rapidly developed a resistance to many chemical pesticides in recent years. In this study, the essential oil of seeds of the anise plant ( Pimpinella anisum ) was extracted by hydrodistillation, and the chemical composition of the oil was analyzed. The antioxidant activity of the volatile oil was determined by the DPPH radical scavenging assay. The acaricidal activity of the anise oil, a natural acaricide, was evaluated for its ability to protect green bean plants from mite injury. The two-spotted spiders were spread on green bean seedlings for 1 week; then, different plants were sprayed with different concentrations of anise oil (10, 20, 30, or 40 µL/L). Our results revealed that anethole was the major component of anise oil, at 53.23%. The acaricidal effect of the various concentrations on T. urticae was recorded after 24, 48, and 72 h of treatment. Our findings suggest that anise oil showed significant acaricidal activity against T. urticae in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Anise oil at a concentration of 40 µL/L killed 96.0% of the red spiders after 72 h. Also, all concentrations of anise oil inhibited acetylcholinesterase, and the spiders’ protease activity declined when the plants were treated with 30 or 40 µL/L of anise oil. The concentrations of 10 and 20 µL/L did not significantly affect the protease activity of T. urticae mites. We can conclude that anise oil exhibited acaricidal activity against T. urticae and that this was highly correlated with the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and protease activities in the mites.

Keywords: Tetranychus urticae; acaricidal activity; Pimpinella anisum; anise oil; AChE; protease (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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