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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Agroecosystem Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #393828
Research Project: Management of Stable Flies to Improve Livestock Production

Location: Agroecosystem Management Research

Title: Repellency and insecticidal activity of seven Mugwort (Artemisia argyi) essential oils against the malaria vector Anopheles sinensis

Author
item LUO, DE-YUE - Chongqing University
item YAN, ZHEN-TIAN - Chongqing University
item CHE, LIN-RONG - Chongqing University
item CHEN, BIN - Chongqing University
item Zhu, Junwei - Jerry

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/14/2022
Publication Date: 3/29/2022
Citation: Luo, D., Yan, Z., Che, L., Chen, B., Zhu, J.J. 2022. Repellency and insecticidal activity of seven Mugwort (Artemisia argyi) essential oils against the malaria vector Anopheles sinensis. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09190-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09190-0

Interpretive Summary: Anopheles sinensis is the main vector of malaria with a wide distribution in China and its adjacent countries. The Chinese mugwort, Artemisia argyi, is a traditional medicine plant that has been reported with immunomodulatory effectiveness and neuroprotective properties against bacterial infection, hemostasis, cancer, and inflammation. The smoke from burning dried mugwort leaves has been commonly used to repel and kill mosquito adults especially in Chinese southern provinces. We investigated what compositional compounds that actually play critical roles in repellency, as well as whether any toxicity existing.

Technical Abstract: In this study, the essential oils of mugwort leaves collected from seven provinces in China were extracted by steam distillation and their chemical compositions were analyzed. Among a total of 56-87 chemical constituents confirmed by GC-MS analyses, four predominant compounds, eucalyptol, ß-caryophyllene, phytol and caryophyllene oxide, were tentatively identified with appearances from all seven distilled essential oils. The effectiveness varied in larvicidal, fumigant and repellent activities against An. sinensis from these seven essential oils with different geographic origins. The essential oil from Hubei province showed the highest larvicidal activity against the 4th instar larvae of An. sinensis, with a median lethal concentration at 40.23 µg/mL. For fumigation toxicity, essential oils from 4 provinces (Gansu, Shandong, Sichuan and Henan) were observed with less than 10 mins in knockdown time. The essential oil distilled from Gansu province displayed the highest repellent activity against Anopheles mosquitoes and provided similar level of protection as observed from DEET. Eucalyptol was the most toxic fumigant compound and phytol showed the strongest larvicidal activity among all mugwort essential oil constituents.