We evaluated the repellent activity of 12 Apiaceae plant essential oils and their components against male and female adult German cockroaches, Blattella germanica, to find new natural repellents. Of the plant essential oils tested, ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi) and dill (Anethum graveolens) essential oils showed the most potent repellent activity against male and female adult German cockroaches. Of the compounds identified, carvacrol, thymol, and R-(-)-carvone showed >80% repellent activity against male and female adult German cockroaches at 0.2 mg/L air concentration. S-(+)-Carvone, (+)-dihydrocarvone, and terpinen-4-ol showed >70% repellent activity against male and female adult German cockroaches at 0.8 mg/L air concentration. Our results indicated that Apiaceae plant essential oils and their constituent have good potential as natural repellents against adult German cockroaches.

We evaluated the larvicidal activity of 12 Apiaceae plant essential oils and their components against the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, and the inhibition of acetylcholine esterase with their components. Of the 12 plant essential oils tested, ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi), caraway seed (Carum carvi), carrot seed (Daucus carota), celery (Apium graveolens), cumin (Cuminum cyminum), dill (Anethum graveolens), and parsley (Petroselinum sativum) resulted in >90% larval mortality when used at 0.1 mg/mL. Of the compounds identified, α-phellandrene, α-terpinene, p-cymene, (-)-limonene, (+)-limonene, γ-terpinene, cuminaldehyde, neral, (S)-+-carvone, trans-anethole, thymol, carvacrol, myristicin, apiol, and carotol resulted in >80% larval mortality when used at 0.1 mg/mL.

We evaluated insecticidal and acetylcholine esterase inhibition activity of 11 Apiaceae plant essential oils and their constituents against male and female adults of Blattella germanica. Of 11 Apiaceae plant essential oils tested, dill (Anethum graveolens), carvi (Carum carvi), and cumin (Cuminum cyminum) essential oils demonstrated > 90 % fumigant toxicity against male adults of German cockroach at 5 mg/filter paper. In contact toxicity test, dill (Anethum graveolens), carvi (Carum carvi), cumin (Cuminum cyminum), and ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi) essential oils produced strong insecticidal activity against male and female adults of German cockroach. Among test compounds, carvone, 1,8-cineole, trans-dihydrocarvone, cuminaldehyde, trans-anethole, p-cymene, and γ-terpinene demonstrated strong fumigant toxicity against male and female adults of B. germanica. In a contact toxicity test, carveol, cuminaldehyde, (S)-(+)-carvone, trans-anethole, thymol, and p-cymene showed the strong contact toxicity against B. germanica male and female adults. IC50 values of α-pinene, carvacrol, and dihydrocarvone against female acetylcholine esterase were 0.28, 0.17, and 0.78 mg/mL, respectively. The toxicity of blends of constituents identified in 4 active oils indicated that carvone, cuminaldehyde, and thymol were major contributors to the fumigant or contact toxicity of the artificial blend.

The larvicidal activity of 12 Apiaceae essential oils and their constituents was evaluated against third instar larvae of mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus. Of the 12 Apiaceae essential oils, Dill (Anethum graveolens), Caraway seed (Carum carvi), Cumin (Cuminum cyminum), Carrot seed (Daucus carota), Parsley (Petroselinum sativum) and Ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi) oils at 0.1 mg/ml exhibited 90% larval mortality after 2 days. Analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry led to identification of 8, 3, 13, 12 compounds, respectively. in the oils of Dill (Anethum graveolens), Caraway seed (Carum carvi), Cumin (Cuminum cyminum), Ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi). The compounds thus identified were tested individually for their larvicidal activities against Aedes albopictus. At this same concentration, the individual constituents tested, α-phellandrene, α-Terpinene, ρ -cymene, (+)-Limonene, γ-Terpinene, Thymol, Carvacrol resulted in 100% mortality after 2 days. At this same concentration, the individual constituents tested, (+)-carvone, cuminaldehyde, neral, trans-anethole resulted in 80% mortality after 2 days.

We evaluated insecticidal activity of 11 Apiaceae plant essential oils and their constituents against rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae.. Of 11 Apiaceae plant essential oils tested, dill (Anethum graveolens), carvi (Carum carvi), caraway seed (Carum carvi) and cumin (Cuminum cyminum) essential oils demonstrated strong fumigant toxicity against adults of rice weevil. Components of 4 active compounds were analyzed by GC and GC-MS, and fumigant toxicity of individual compound was also tested. Among test compounds, carvone, dihydrocarvone, carveol, linalool oxide, neral, cuminaldehyde, and anethole demonstrated the strong insecticidal activity. The toxicity of blends of constituents identified in 4 active oils indicated that carvone, and cuminaldehyde were major contributors to the fumigant toxicity of the artificial blend.