Chemical composition and biological activity of Salvia officinalis L. essential oil against Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

This study investigated chemical composition, repellent and biocidal activities of Salvia officinalis essential oil against Aphis fabae. In total, 19 major components were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The major constituents in S. officinalis essential oil were determined as 1,8 cineole (11.40%), β- Selinene (11.26%), Camphor (9.50%),α-Thujone (8.80%), and Caryophyllene (8.19%). The effect of the different concentrations (0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 and 1.16 μl/cm2) of the S. officinalis essential oil were tested on the apterous adult of A. fabae under laboratory conditions. Bioassays were conducted using the area preference and the filter paper methods for testing repellency and insecticidal activities. The S. officinalis essential oil showed strong repellent activity (95.0 ± 5.77%) against A. fabae when used the highest concentration (0.16 μl/cm2) for 24 h. The average percent repellency (PR) was of 75.50 ± 15.38%. Furthermore, S. officinalis essential oil resulted in high mortality, even when applied at low concentrations. LC50 was 0.027 µl/cm2 at 24 h while the LT50 ranged from 49.615 to 5.666 h at the lowest (0.01 μl/cm2) and the highest (0.16 μl/cm2) concentrations, respectively. This is the first study on the biological activity of S. officinalis essential oil against A. fabae.