Essential Oils Isolated from Myrtaceae Family as Natural Insecticides

Abstract

An interest in natural products from plants has been increased due to the disruption of natural biological control systems, undesirable effects on non-target organisms, environmental hazards, and the development of resistance to synthetic insecticides, which are applied in order to reduce the populations of insects. Essential oils (EOs) from plants may be an alternative source of insect control agents, since they constitute a rich source of bioactive compounds that are biodegradable into nontoxic products and potentially suitable for use in integrated management programs. These materials may be applied to food crops shortly before harvest without leaving excessive residues. Furthermore, medically safe of these plant derivatives has emphasized also. For these reasons, much effort has been focused on plant EOs and their constituents as potential sources of insect control agents. In this context, Myrtaceae family would rank among the most important families of plants. In the last few years more and more studies on the insecticidal properties of EOs from Myrtaceae family have been published and it seemed worthwhile to compile them. Therefore, the subject matter of this paper lies on the insecticidal effects of EOs from Myrtaceae and their compounds in insect pest's control. Natural essences of Myrtaceae plants owe its insecticidal action to the presence in its composition of terpenic derivatives such as 1.8-cineole, limonene, linalool, myrcene, terpineol, thymol and α-pinene, which have introduced as potential insecticides. These review indicated that pesticides based on Myrtaceae essential oils could be used in a variety of ways to control a large number of insect pests.