Impaginato 165 1. Introduction The whitefly, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell is com- monly known as Spiralling whitefly, a native to the Caribbean region and Central America. The Spiralling whiteflies are thought to be widely spread in the Pacific Islands, America (North and South), Asia and Africa (Waterhouse and Norris, 1989). The Spiralling whiteflies were first discovered in Suva, Fiji Islands in April 1986 and since then was regarded as a serious pest (Kumar et al., 1987; Waterhouse and Norris, 1989). These Spiralling whiteflies pose extreme threats to the agricultural and horticultural crops in glasshouses and fields worldwide (Oliveira et al., 2001; Mani and Krishnamoorthy, 2002; Stansly and Natwick, 2010). Some specific plants that are usually attacked include cassava, pepper, papaya, mango, eggplant, citrus, guava, banana, coconut, breadfruit, tropical almond, sea grape, paper bark and rose (Russell, 1965; Kessing et al., 1993; Neuenschwander, 1994; Reddy, 2015). There are many synthetic chemicals i.e. pyriprox- yfen, imidacloprid, buprofezin and pyridaben which are used by farmers to control the different species of whiteflies (Bi et al., 2002; Toscano and Bi, 2007; Reddy, 2015). The use of synthetic chemicals has led to the development of resistance in the insects (Palumbo et al., 2001; Horowitz et al., 2007; Carabalí et al., 2010; Li et al., 2014). The use of synthetic chemicals also arouse major concern to the environ- ment and human health through the bioaccumula- tion of chemical compounds in the food chains, resulting in severe physiological disorders and dis- eases (Oliva et al., 2001; Baldi et al., 2003; Briggs, 2003; Saiyed et al., 2003; Lemaire et al., 2004). As a result, an alternative search for chemical pesticides has led to the global effort to test the efficacy of vari- ous natural product for the pest control and crop protection. Natural pesticides such as plant essential oil can represent an alternative in the crop protection (Coats, 1994; Isman, 2000; Koul et al., 2008). The Adv. Hort. Sci., 2016 30(3): 165-174 DOI: 10.13128/ahs-20279 Bioactivity of selected essential oils from medicinal plants found in Fiji against the Spiralling whiteflies (Aleurodicus dispersus Russell) R.R. Chand (*), A.D. Jokhan, R.D. Gopalan School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, The University of the South Pacific, Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fiji. Key words: Aleurodicus dispersus Russell, essential oils, fumigant and repellent toxicity, GC-MS. Abstract: The concentration of essential oil solutions [0.25%, 0.5% and 5% (v/v)] of five medicinal plants found in the South Pacific (Fiji) were subjected to the whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus Russell) in order to assess eventual control activ- ities, by both fumigant and repellent tests. The essential oil of Ocimum tenuiflorum L. exhibited the strongest fumigant activity against the Spiralling whiteflies with an LC50 value of 0.003% followed by the essential oil of Cymbopogon citra- tus (DC.) Stapf. (LC50 = 0.004%), Cananga odorata (Lam.) Hook F. and Thoms (LC50 = 0.050%), Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. (LC50 = 0.113%), and Euodia hortensis forma hortensis (LC50 = 0.114%). The essential oil of M. koenigii (RI=52%) and C. citratus (RI=52%) at 5% (v/v) concentration were found to have a higher repellent toxicity against the Spiralling whiteflies. The chemical composition of the selected essential oils was also determined using GC-MS. The trend in the chemical constituent of essential oils revealed that the phenolic and alcoholic compounds were the major groups of con- tributors to the tested activities. Thus, these data suggested that essential oils from the selected medicinal plants found in the South Pacific (Fiji) have the potential to be employed in the pesticidal activities. (*) Corresponding author: chand_rv@usp.ac.fj Received for publication 10 August 2016 Accepted for publication 18 October 2016 Copyright: © 2016 Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Adv. Hort. Sci., 2016 30(3): 165-174 166 diverse use of essential oil can represent a good alternative due to its novel, safe and eco-friendly substitute for its effective insecticidal properties (Li et al., 2014; Palanisami et al., 2014). Several essential oils from medicinal plants have been screened for the repellence and toxicity against grain storage insects, fleas, ticks and lice (Leal and Uchida, 1998; Gandhi et al., 2010; Olivero-Verbel et al., 2010; Caballero-Gallardo et al., 2011; Cheng et al., 2012; Seo et al., 2012; Vera et al., 2014). However, very lit- tle information on the fumigant and repellent toxicity of essential oils from medicinal plants found in the South Pacific (Fiji) was available against the Spiralling whiteflies. The aim of this study was to assess if essential oils of determined medicinal plants could serve as bio-pesticides for the control of the whitefly pest. The chemical profile of selected essential oils was also studied in order to provide justification for the presence of active compounds in the tested activities. 2. Materials and Methods Essential oils extraction and analysis The plant materials from Cananga odorata (Lam.) Hook F. and Thoms (Makosoi flowers), Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf. (Lemongrass leaves), Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. (Curry leaves), Ocimum tenuiflo- rum L. (Tulsi leaves) and Eudioa hortensis forma hort- ensis (Uci leaves) were collected from Fiji islands in April to November, 2015. The selected plant materi- als were verified with the voucher specimens placed at University of the South Pacific Herbarium and Koronivia Research Station, Suva, Fiji Islands. The plant materials from the medicinal plants were hydro-distilled using Clevenger apparatus for 5-7 hours. A meniscus layer (essential oils) was formed in the collecting tube which was then collected in a vial. The samples were dried over anhydrous sodium sul- phate (Na2SO4) and stored at 4°C. T h e a n a l y s i s o f e s s e n t i a l o i l s u s i n g G a s Chromatography equipped with Mass spectrometry (Agilent Technologies 6890) was performed using an HP-5MS non polar fused silica capillary column (0.25 mm, 30 m, 0.25 μm film thickness; Model Number: 19091S-433) with the following conditions: The oven temperature was programmed from 50°C to 325°C over 5 min, at equilibration time of 0.50 min. The transfer source and quadrupole temperatures were 150°C, 200°C, 230°C and 250°C respectively, operat- ing at 71 eV ionization energy. For the front inlet the mode used was split with an initial temperature of 250°C at 42.5 kPa at a split ratio of 50:1 and split flow of 43.8 mL/min. Helium was used as a carrier gas at a constant linear velocity of 35 cm/sec, flow rate of 0.9 mL/min; the injected sample volume was 1.0 μL which was diluted in hexane (1000 μL). The analysis w a s c a r r i e d a t t h e S o u t h e r n C r o s s U n i v e r s i t y , Australia. The constituents of essential oils were identified based on mass spectra comparison of retention indices (RI) with standard compounds. For the reference purpose, the database search was done using Essoils and Adams library. For the pur- pose of semi-quantification, the normalized peak areas of reported compounds were used without any correction factors for establishing abundance. Retention Indices (RI) and abundance were calculat- ed using the mean values of 3 injections (El Bouzidi et al., 2011). Breeding of Spiralling whiteflies The adult Spiralling whiteflies were brought from a nearby farm (Rewa Province) without any insectici- dal exposure. The collected Spiralling whiteflies were brought to the green house where they were intro- duced to the cassava plants [Manihot esculenta (Crantz)] in order for them to grow and multiply. The plants were maintained in the greenhouse for appro- priately 6-7 months without any pesticide contact before carrying out the actual experiment. The adult Spiralling whiteflies were collected in petri dish using a small paintbrush. The conditions that were set in the laboratory were similar to the environment that they were found, that is, under the condition of 28±2°C, 75±5% RH and light regime of 14:10 h (L:D). The Spiralling whiteflies (Aleurodicus dispersus Russell) bred in the greenhouse were brought into the laboratory when required to carry out the fumi- gant and repellent test. Fumigant toxicity assessment T h e l e a v e s o f t h e c a s s a v a p o t p l a n t s w e r e enclosed with a clear pocket plastic bag (16 cm in length) with 50 whiteflies in each bag irrespective of their sex. The treatments [0.25%, 0.5% and 5% (v/v)] were introduced into each plastic bag using a filter paper (~2 cm in diameter) based on the randomisa- tion. The filter paper discs (~2 cm in diameter) were impregnated on the side of the plastic bag. The con- trol filter disc had Tween 20 (5%) (Purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, Australia) mixed with the distilled water. The mortality count results after 3, 6, 9, 12 Chand et al. - Bioactivity of essential oils from medicinal plants in Fiji 167 and 24 hours were calculated. Repellent toxicity assessment A T-shaped olfactometer set was constructed in order to test the repellency on the adult Spiralling whiteflies. The setup consisted of a long glass tube (diameter of 50 cm). The external light source was placed between site 1 and site 2. Site 1 had the con- trol leaf disc (2 cm in diameter) dipped in tween 20 (5%) solution, while site 2 had the leaf disc with selected concentration of the essential oil. The essen- tial oil concentration for all the five plants tested were 0.25%, 0.5% and 5% (v/v). The test was per- formed on 50 adult whiteflies with 4 replicates for each concentration. After 6-8 hours the number of whiteflies were counted using a hand lens for each site (chamber). The Repellency Index (RI %) was cal- culated using the formula (Abdellaoui et al., 2009): RI % = (C-T/ C+T) x 100 where [C= whitefly counts on the control side of the olfactometer] and [T = whitefly counts on the treat- ment side of the olfactometer] . If the Repellency Index calculated (RI %) is posi- tive, it means that the whiteflies were repelled with the tested concentration of essential oils and vice versa if the Repellency Index (RI %) calculated is neg- ative. Statistical analysis Fumigant test assessment. A Factorial ANOVA (5x4x5 split plot design) using Tukey’s HSD test was performed. Prior to performing ANOVA (significant at p=0.05), the percentage mortalities were trans- formed by the arcsine of the square root. The total mortalities were converted to percentage mortality. The Lethal concentration (LC50) values for the mortal- ity after 24 hours were assessed using Probit in XLSTAT software (version 2015.1) (Kabir et al., 2007; Postelnicu, 2011). The morality was corrected using Abbott’s formula for those that exceed 10% by natur- al mortality (Abbott, 1925). Repellent test assessment. To evaluate the statisti- cal difference at 5% level of significance between each essential oil with its respective control, an inde- pendent sample t-test was performed. The Probit analysis in XLSTAT software (version 2015.1) was also used to calculate the EC50 for the repelling effect of each essenti al oil (Padhy and Panigrahi, 2016, Olufayo and Alade, 2012). 3. Result and Discussion Chemical analysis of the essential oils A total of 88 compounds were detected in the selected essential oils from the medicinal plants, accounting for 92.76-97.88% of total composition as summarised in Table 1 and 2. The main chemical compounds identified in the essential oil of C. odora- ta were trans, trans-farnesol (29.71%), benzyl ben- zoate (21.69%), linalool (16.65%) and trans, trans-far- nesyl acetate (6.93%). While for M. koenigii the major compounds identified were sabinene (43.80%), β- caryophyllene (16.52%), terpinen-4-ol (7.20%) and α- pinene (5.67%). In case of E. hortensis, menthofuran (55.17%) and evodone (25.91%) were the main com- p o u n d s . T h e e s s e n t i a l o i l f r o m O . t e n u i f l o r u m revealed the presence of eugenol (58.20%), germa- crene D (11.68%) and cis-β-ocimene (10.79%) as the major compounds. The major compounds identified i n t h e C . c i t r a t u s e s s e n t i a l o i l w e r e c i t r o n e l l a l (45.09%), citronellol (19.11%), geraniol (13.57%) and elemol (6.15%). Table 1 - Composition of essential oils (%) from C. odorata (Makasoi), M. koenigii (Curry leaves), E. hortenis (Uci), O. tenuiflorum (Tulsi) and C. citratus (Lemon grass) Chemical compounds Ocimum tenuiflorum (%) Cymbopogon citratus (%) Cananga odorata (%) Euodia hortensis forma hortensis (%) Murraya koenigii (%) α-thujene 0.61 - 0.31# - 1.79 linalool 0.21 0.27 16.65 0.10# - myrcene 0.38 - 0.11 0.37 1.84 sabinene 0.43 - 0.58# - 43.80 iso-pulegol - 1:17 - - - α-pinene - - 0.32 - 5.67 limonene - - - 4.64 - 1-octen-3-ol 0.19# - - - - citronellal - 45.09 - 0.20 - iso iso-pulegol - 0.46# - - - β-pinene - - - - 1.55 α-terpinene 0.23# - - - 2.64 decanal - 0.14# - - - methyl benzoate - - 1.64 - - menthofuran - - - 55.17 - p-cymene 0:23 - - - 0.67 citronellol - 19:11 - 0.13# - cis-β-ocimene 10.79 - - - 0.11 neral - 0:55 - - - ethyl benzoate - - 0.14 - - limonene-10-ol - - - 0.60 - trans-β-ocimene 0.43# - - - 0.39 geraniol - 13:57 0.74 - - terpinen-4-ol 1:01 - 0.15 - 7.20 evodone - - - 25.97 - β-phellandrene - - - - 0.69 ϒ-terpinene 0:37 - - - 4.82 geranial - 0.74 - - - methyl salicylate - - 3.15 - - α-copaene 1.98# - - 0.79 - citronellic acid - 0.37# - - - to be continued Adv. Hort. Sci., 2016 30(3): 165-174 168 Variability in the essential oils The results obtained also showed variability in terms of the quality, quantity and composition of essential oils in all the selected plants when com- pared to the available literature, that is, O. tenuiflo- rum (Pino et al., 1998; Naquvi et al., 2012), C. citratus (Negrelle and Gomes, 2007; Olivero-Verbel et al., 2010; Matasyoh et al., 2011; Tyagi et al., 2014), C. odorata (Katague and Kirch, 1963; Gaydou et al., 1986; Murbach Teles Andrade et al., 2013), E. horten- sis (Brophy et al., 1985) and M. koenigii (Raina et al., 2002; Chowdhury et al., 2008) (Table 1). The variabili- ty in the composition of essential oil is mainly due to the genetic variations, climatic, ecological locations, soil composition, plant organs, age and vegetative cycle stages of the plant (Pietschmann et al., 1998; Masotti et al., 2003; Stewart, 2005; Tchoumboug- nang et al., 2005; Angioni et al., 2006; Koba et al., 2007; Nascimento et al., 2008; Katoch et al., 2013; Erbil et al., 2015; Ríos, 2016). Fumigant toxicity of selected essential oils Among the five tested essential oils (Fig. 1 a-c), O. tenuiflorum essential oil showed the most robust fumigant effect against the Spiralling whiteflies with LC50 value of 0.003% followed by the essential oils of C. citratus (LC50 = 0.004%), C. odorata (LC50 = 0.050%), M. koenigii (LC50 = 0.113%), and E. hortensis (LC50 = 0.114%) (Table 3). Statistically, the fumigant activity of O. tenuiflorum and C. citratus essential oils at 0.5% and 5% (v/v) concentrations were significantly higher than the other species (p=0.00). The significant threshold was set at p<0.05. The mortality count of the Spiralling whiteflies were also higher at 5% (v/v) concentration for C. odorata, E. hortensis and M. koenigii essential oils as compared to 0.25% and 0.5% (v/v) concentrations. Generally the increasing con- c e n t r a t i o n s o f t h e t e s t e d e s s e n t i a l o i l s l e d t o increased mortality of whiteflies. The robust effect of O. tenuiflorum essential oil Chemical compounds (z) Ocimum tenuiflorum (%) Cymbopogon citratus (%) Cananga odorata (%) Euodia hortensis forma hortensis (%) Murraya koenigii (%) methyl chavicol - - 0.45# - - β-cubebene - - - 0.26 - allo-ocimene 0.17# - - - - citronellyl acetate - 1.05# - - - limonene-10-yl acetate - - - 0.60 - geranyl acetate - 0.44 - - - trans-anethole - - 0.27# - - α-(2) gurjunene - - - 0.59# - trans-sabinene hydrate - - - - 0.59 α-cubebene 0.18# - - - - β-elemene - 0.59# - - - δ-elemene - - 0.24# - - β- caryophyllene - - - 0.54 - isoterpinolene - - - - 0.95# eugenol 58.20 - 1.38 - 0.33# germacrene D 11.68 0.79# 2.74 0.27# 0.14 trans-α-bergamotene - - - 0.18# - trans-p-menth-2-en-1-ol - - - - 0.47# δ-cadinene 1.44# 0.88 - - - methyl eugenol - - 1.77 - - trans-β-farnesene - - - 0.20# - β-bourbonene 0.93 - - - - elemol - 6.15 - - - β-caryophyllene 4.31 - 0.49 - 16.52 β-funebrene - - - 0.23# - α-terpineol - - - - 0.28 4-α-hydroxyl germacral (10), 5-diene - 1.15# - - - humulene 0.33# - - 0.29# - cis-piperitol - - - - 0.12# β-copaene 0.35 - - - - ϒ-eudesmol - 0.72# - - - β-selinene - - 0.31# - 0.40# trans-piperitol - - - - 0.17# δ-cardinol - 0.27# - - - α-germacrene - - 0.35# - 0.18# AR-curcumene - - - 0.60 - ϒ-muurolene 0.40# - - - - α-cardinol - 3.70 - - - β- elemene - - - - 1.50 trans, trans-farnesol - - 29.71 - - cis, trans-farnesol - 0.46# - - - bicyclogermacrene - - - 0.41# - trans, trans-farnesal - - 0.43# - - benzyl benzoate - 0.21# 21.69 - - β-curcumene - - - 0.56# - α-cardinene 0.55# - - - - ϒ-cardinene 0.22# - - - - trans, trans-farnesyl acetate - - 6.93 - - δ-cardinene - - - 0.46# - α-selinene - - - - 0.78# benzyl salicyate - - 2.21 - - caryophyllene oxide 0.24 - - - 0.75# epi-1-cubenol 0.13# - - - - trans-nerolidol - - - - 0.24# α-cadinol 0.87# - - - - intermedeol - - - - 0.27# ϒ-curcumene - - - 3.79# - (z) Compounds listed in order of elution from a HP-5MS non polar fused silica capillary column. # Indicate that the compounds were detected for the first time as compared to the literature. Chemical groups Cananga odorata (%) Murraya koenigii (%) Euodia hor- tensis forma hortensis (%) Ocimum tenuiflorum (%) Cymbopogon citratus (%) Monoterpenes 1.32 65.51 60.18 13.64 - Ester 35.76 - 0.60 - 1.70 Alcohol and phenol 50.85 9.08 0.83 60.61 45.88 Sesquiterpenes 4.13 20:27 9.17 22.61 3.41 Aldehyde 0:43 - 0.20 - 46.52 ketones - - 25.97 - - Acid - - - - 0.37 Miscellaneous 0.27 - - - - Total (%) 92.76 94.86 96.95 96.86 97.88 Table 1 (continued) Table 2 - The major chemical groups present in the essential oils of C. odorata, M. koenigii, E. hortensis, O. tenuiflorum, and C. citratus Chand et al. - Bioactivity of essential oils from medicinal plants in Fiji 169 could be attributed to the chemical constituents pre- sent in the oil. In this study, O. tenuiflorum essential oil had 60.61% of alcoholic and phenolic compounds as compared to C. citratus (45.88%), C. odorata (50.85%), E. hortensis (0.83%) and M. koenigii (9.08%). According to Isman (2000), eugenol com- pounds were found to be 7-9 times more toxic than terpenes and terpinene-4-ol. This confirms that O. tenuiflorum essential oils from the present study showed a strong fumigant effect due to eugenol (58.20%) compound. In previous studies, eugenols were also reported as a major cause of toxicity against the adult beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus) (Ajayi et al., 2014), bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obrectus) (Regnault-Roger and Hamraoui, 1995), yel- low fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) (Sosan et al., 2001) and rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) (Lee et al., 2003). Cymbopogon citratus essential oil also showed strong fumigant effect (Fig. 1 a-c). Such effect can be attributed to the major chemical compounds, alco- hols and phenols (45.88%), especially citronellol (19.11%) and geraniol (13.57%). These major chemi- cal compounds have showed toxicity and repellent effects on different pests (Fradin and Day, 2002; Ansari et al., 2005; Choochote et al., 2007; Paluch et al., 2009; Sakulku et al., 2009; Maia and Moore, 2011). Similarly, the interaction of different chemical compounds could have played a major role in the repression of the fumigant effect. According to Chang et al. (2009), when linalool compound from the Basil oil (Ocimum family) was mixed with cuelure compounds, the level of toxicity on the tested insect (Melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae) decreased. The above scenario could explain why C. odorata essen- tial oil had the second highest percentage of alcohol and phenol compounds (50.85%) while it was not able to produce a greater fumigant effect as com- pared to C. citratus (45.88%) essential oil. Fig. 1 - Fumigant effect (Mean±SE) of selected essential oils on the Spiralling whiteflies over different time intervals using different solution concentrations: (a) 0.25%; (b) 0.5%; (c) 5% (v/v). The alphabetical letters represent the respective essential oils and the asterisks indicate results statistically different from the control at p<0.05 (*), p<0.01 (**), p<0.001 (***) using Tukey’s test. Essential oils Time (hours) Equation R2 LC50 /EC50 (%) χ 2 statistic P-value df Cananga odorata 24 y = 4.998 + 4.086x 0.750 0.050 118.149 <0.0001 1 Murraya koenigii 24 y = 3.408+ 3.933x 0.316 0.113 76.080 <0.0001 1 Euodia hortensis forma hortensis 24 y = 3.349+3.887x 0.586 0.114 78.574 <0.0001 1 Cymbopogon citratus 24 y = 8.725+3.764x 0.902 0.004 279.950 <0.0001 1 Ocimum tenuiflorum 24 y = 12.286+5.020x 0.651 0.003 253.512 <0.0001 1 Table 3 - Dose-effect analysis of the fumigant properties of essential oils on the Spiralling whiteflies after 24 hours at 0.25%, 0.5% and 5% (v/v) concentrations The χ² probability ≤0.0001, indicated that the significant difference was brought by the log (concentration) variable and the repellency. Each test represents the mean of four replicates of 50 whiteflies. Adv. Hort. Sci., 2016 30(3): 165-174 170 Repellent toxicity of selected essential oils The Table 4 revealed that none of the essential oils showed a very strong repelling effect on the S p i r a l l i n g w h i t e f l i e s . I n o r d e r , b a s e d o n t h e Repellency index (RI %) of selected essential oils at the highest concentration [5%( v/v)], we found C. cit- ratus (52%), M. koenigii (52%), O. tenuiflorum (12%), E. hortensis (10%) and C. odorata (9%). A direct rela- tionship was seen between the repellent effect and the concentration (Table 4). Statistically, it was found that only C. citratus had a strong significant differ- ence (R2 =0.611, p=0.00) at tested concentrations. The EC50 values in ascending order of the repellent effect of selected essential oils were 3.05% (C. odora- ta), 2.73% (O. tenuiflorum), 0.96% (E. hortensis), 0.43% (C. citratus) and 0.41% (M. koenigii). The chemical analysis in this study revealed the presence of α-pinene (5.67%), β-pinene (1.55%) and myrcene (1.84%) only in the essential oil of M. koenigii. The other active compounds that might have contributed towards the repellent effect can be terpinene-4-ol (7.20%) and eugenol (0.33%). In previ- ous report, these compounds were found to repel yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) (Coats et al., 1 9 9 1 ; D e b b o u n e t a l . , 2 0 1 4 ) , b e a n w e e v i l (Callosobruchus chinensis) (Haidri et al., 2014) and two-spotted spider mites (Lee et al., 1997). The repellent activity of C. citratus and M. koenigii essential oils at the highest concentration [5% (v/v)] were similar. In agreement with Nerio et al. (2010), essential oil from C. citratus family were found to have promising repellent properties. The active com- pounds from previous studies such as α-pinene, limonene, citronellol, citronellal, camphor and thy- mol have shown higher repellent activity against ticks (Amblyomma americanum) and yellow fever mosqui- to (Aedes aegypti) (Nerio et al., 2010; Debboun et al., 2014). This study also reported the presence of cit- ronellal (45.09%), citronellol (19.11%) and geraniol (13.57%) that may have caused the repellent effect (Table 1). Interestingly, the essential oil activity of O. tenui- f l o r u m s h o w e d a w e a k r e p e l l e n c y a g a i n s t t h e Spiralling whiteflies, despite the fact that the mode of action of essential oils against the Spiralling white- flies in both fumigant and repellent test are known to be similar. In fact, the mode of action of essential oils against the Spiralling whiteflies was via neurotoxicity and respiratory toxicity (Tanada and Kaya, 1993; Isman and Machial, 2006; Satar et al., 2008; Li et al., 2014; Tehri and Singh, 2015). The weak repellent activity of O. tenuiflorum essential oil could be due the eugenol content (58.20%) which could have a t t r a c t e d t h e S p i r a l l i n g w h i t e f l i e s r a t h e r t h a n repelling. In previous study, eugenol caused attrac- tancy to the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) (Isman and Machial, 2006). The other chemical com- pounds from literature that were found to attract the insects were cinnamyl alcohol, 4-methoxy-cin- namaldehyde, cinnamaldehyde, geranylacetone and α-terpineol (Hammack, 1996; Petroski and Hammack, 1998). The overall trend of repellent effect of select- ed essential oils on the Spiralling whiteflies can be ranked as C. citratus and M. koenigii followed by E. hortensis, O. tenuiflorum and C. odorata. 4. Conclusions All the five essential oils from medicinal plants Essential oils Conc (v/v) (%) RI (%) Equation R2 EC50 (%) χ 2 statistic P-value Df Cananga odorata 0.25 -29 y = -0.140+0.290x 0.0795 3.046 5.93 0.015 1 0.05 -17 5 9 Murraya koenigii 0.25 -13 y = 0.260+0.663x 0.3232 0.406 38.214 < 0.0001 1 0.05 8 5 52 Euodia hortensis forma hortensis 0.25 -10 y=0.003+0.188x 0.028 0.964 3.277 0.070 1 0.05 -3 5 10 Cymbopogon citratus 0.25 -9 y = -0.285+0.953x 0.6111 0.434 27.474 < 0.0001 1 0.05 3 5 52 Ocimum tenuiflorum 0.25 -18 y = -0.163+0.374x 0.1582 2.728 13.928 0.000 1 0.05 -11 5 12 Table 4 - Summary of repellent effect (6-8 hours) on the adult whiteflies at different concentrations (Using Probit analysis) The χ² probability ≤0.0001, indicated that the significant difference was brought by the log (concentration) variable and the repellency. Each test represents the mean of four replicates of 50 whiteflies. Chand et al. - Bioactivity of essential oils from medicinal plants in Fiji 171 tested against the Spiralling whiteflies showed fumi- gant and repellent effects. The strongest fumigant effect was shown by O. tenuiflorum essential oils, while for repellent test none of the essential oils showed strong effect. However the M. koenigii and C. citratus showed higher repellency when compared with other tested essential oils. In addition, the results presented in this study are the first given information on the chemical composition of essential oils from the South Pacific on the selected plant species. So far only E. hortensis essential oil composi- tion data from Fiji is reported (Brophy et al., 1985). The selected essential oils from medicinal plants showed potential for the development of possible natural form of controlling the whitefly but needs to be further evaluated to enhance their activity and safety to the humans. Acknowledgements A warm thanks to Mr Ashley Dowell and the team f r o m S o u t h e r n C r o s s U n i v e r s i t y , Q u e e n s l a n d , Australia for assisting in the identification of com- pounds in the selected essential oils. A special thanks to the Chief Scientist Dr Rajeswara Rao, Dr. Karuna Shanker and the team from the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, India, for sharing their thoughts and ideas throughout the research. Last but not least I’m very thankful to the support given by the University of the South Pacific, Fiji islands for offering the Graduate Assistant scholar- ship and the research funding. References ABBOTT W.S., 1925 - A method of computing the effective- ness of an insecticide. - J. Econ. Entomol., 18: 265-267. ABDELLAOUI K., HALIMA-KAMEL M.B., BEN M.H., 2009 - The antifeeding and repellent properties of gibberellic acid against asiatic migratory locust, Locusta migratoria migratoria. - Tunis J. Plant Prot., 4: 57-66. 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