Volatile oil of Cymbopogon pendulus as an effective fumigant pesticide for the management of storage-pests of food commodities.

摘要

During pesticidal evaluation of secondary metabolites of some aromatic plants, the essential oil of Cymbopogon pendulus (Nees ex Steud.) Wats. cv. Praman was found as strong toxicant, against the post harvest storage pests viz., Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium italicum (fungal pests) as well as Rhizopertha dominica, Tribolium castaneum and Trogoderma granarium (insect pests). The oil as a fumigant, at 10 micro l/ml conc, killed the tested fungal pests within 7 days; however against insect pests it required 9 hrs, only. The oil's toxicity contains heavy doses of pest inoculums, thermo stable up to 80 degrees C and even up to 36 months for storage. Moreover, the oil was not phytotoxic for stored food grains (50 micro l/ml conc). Besides, it has also been reported harmless to human health. The oil was tested in vivo in the form of herbal fumigant formulation at 10 micro l/ml conc. and experiments were performed in cotton bags, gunny bags and polythene bags. The results obtained from gunny bags prompted to perform the experiments at farmers' level too. On comparing, the data collected from different sites of trials were quite encouraging; reducing the pest infestation. Besides, the phytotoxicity, pesticidal spectrum, organoleptic tests, pharmacological investigations as well as the comparative characteristics of C. pendulus with some synthetic fumigants were also found superior. Therefore, after multi-locational field trials, formulated herbal fumigant may be commercialized as a substitute for synthetic grain fumigants.