title: Insecticidal compounds from the essential oil of Chinese medicinal herb Atractylodes chinensis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In a screening programme for new agrochemicals from Chinese medicinal herbs, the essential oil of Atractylodes chinensis (DC.) Koidz was found to possess strong insecticidal activity against the common vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster L. The essential oil was extracted via hydrodistillation, and its constituents were determined by GC-MS analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main components of A. chinensis essential oil were β-eudesmol (21.05%), β-selinene (11.75%), γ-elemene (7.16%) and isopetasam (5.36%). Bioactivity-directed chromatographic separation on repeated silica gel columns led to the isolation of five compounds, namely atractylon, α-elemol, β-eudesmol, hinesol and β-selinene. β-Selinene, α-elemol and hinesol showed pronounced contact toxicity against D. melanogaster adults, with LD(50) values of 0.55, 0.65 and 0.71 µg adult(-1) respectively. Atractylon and β-eudesmol were also toxic to the fruit flies (LD(50) = 1.63 and 2.65 µg adult(-1) respectively), while the crude oil had an LD(50) value of 2.44 µg adult(-1) .
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggested that the essential oil of Atractylodes chinensis and its active constituents may be explored as natural potential insecticides.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Sha Sha
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Guo Hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhi Long
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D031174:Atractylodes / Q000737:chemistry*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D007306:Insecticides / Q000032:analysis*; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D009822:Oils, Volatile