Insecticidal and Antifungal Activities of Chemically-Characterized Essential Oils from the Leaves of <i>Withania frutescens</i> L.
El Moussaoui Abdelfattah,
Allali Aimad,
Mohammed Bourhia,
Khalid Chebbac,
Ahmad Mohammad Salamatullah,
Walid Soufan,
Hiba-Allah Nafidi,
Mourad A. M. Aboul-Soud,
Lahcen Ouahmane,
Amina Bari
Affiliations
El Moussaoui Abdelfattah
Laboratory of Biotechnology, Environment, Agrifood and Health, Faculty of Science, University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Fez 30050, Morocco
Allali Aimad
Laboratory of Animal and Plant Production, and Agro-Industry, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, BP 133, Kenitra 14000, Morocco
Mohammed Bourhia
Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Agro-Sciences and Environment (BioMAgE), Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh 40000, Morocco
Khalid Chebbac
Laboratory of Biotechnology Conservation and Valorisation of Natural Resources, Faculty of Sciences Dhar ElMahraz, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah University, Fez 30000, Morocco
Ahmad Mohammad Salamatullah
Department of Food Science & Nutrition, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, 11 P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Walid Soufan
Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Hiba-Allah Nafidi
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, 2325 University Street, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Mourad A. M. Aboul-Soud
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia
Lahcen Ouahmane
Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Agro-Sciences and Environment (BioMAgE), Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh 40000, Morocco
Amina Bari
Laboratory of Biotechnology, Environment, Agrifood and Health, Faculty of Science, University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Fez 30050, Morocco
The current study was conducted to investigate antifungal and insecticidal activities of essential oil extracted from the Moroccan Withania frutescens L. (EOW), and their chemical composition was profiled. To achieve this goal, EOW was extracted by the hydro-distillation method and their phytochemical constituents were characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses (GC-MS). Insecticidal activity was evaluated by use of four tests: contact toxicity, inhalation toxicity, and repellent tests. Antifungal activity was evaluated on Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Ciceris (F. oxysporum) using different concentrations of EOW. GC/MS analysis revealed that EOW was rich in carvacrol (31.87%), thymol (30.08%), and camphor (9.13%). At a 1-µL/L dose, EOW exhibited mortality rates of 23.13 ± 1.07% and 24.41 ± 1.21% against Callosobruchus maculatus (C.maculatus) by inhalation and contact, respectively. Notably, EOW dose of 20 μL/L caused significant mortality rates of 95.1 ± 3.5% and 76.69 ± 1.71% by inhalation and contact, respectively. EOW exhibited an inhibitory effect on mycelial growth against the tested fungi F. oxysporum of 100% and 93.5 ± 1.1% for the 9 and 4.5 mg/mL doses, respectively. The reduced mycelial growth rate for F. oxysporum was recorded to be 0.3 ± 0.1 and 0.6 ± 0.1 mm/h for the EOW doses of 2.25 and 4.5 mg/mL, respectively. The outcome of the present work showed that EOW has a promising antifungal and insecticidal activity, and it can therefore be employed as a natural alternative insecticidal and mycocidal agent to replace the chemically-synthesized ones.
