Seasonal variation, larvicidal and nematicidal activities of the lef essential oil of<i>Ruta graveolens</i>L.

Abstract

This study investigated the seasonal variation (October 2009 to September 2010) in the chemical composition of the leaf essential oil of Ruta graveolens L. and evaluated its activity against third-instar larvae of Aedes aegypti and juvenile nematodes (J2) of Meloidogyne incognita. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography/flame ionization detection (GC/FID) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Nine compounds were identified in the oil samples obtained during a year. The major components were 2-undecanone (37.0±2.0% to 58.2±5.1%) and 2-nonanone (17.6±1.3% to 53.1±3.9%). The essential oil showed lc50 and lc90 values of 39.55 and 64.17 ppm for A. aegypti respectively, and 267.20 and 482.03 ppm for M. incognita, respectively.