Abstract

GARCIA-MATEOS, Ma. Rosario; ELIZALDE SANCHEZ, Elisa; ESPINOSA-ROBLES, Policarpo  and  ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, Ma. Edna. Toxicity of petiveria alliacea l: On greenhouse whitefly (trialeurodes vaporariorum west.). INCI [online]. 2007, vol.32, n.2, pp.121-124. ISSN 0378-1844.

Several natural products present in plant extracts have been evaluated for their effectiveness as insecticides. Petiveria alliacea (Phytolaccaceae) is a perennial herb whose distribution includes tropical areas of Mexico and Central America, as well as other regions. Its properties as insecticide and acaricide have been reported. To determine the toxic effects of P. alliacea on the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum, mortality rate and LC₅₀ were evaluated in the laboratory and in a greenhouse hydroponic tomato crop. In the laboratory, mortality rates were 98.35% for the aqueous extract and 100% for the methanol and dichloromethane extracts. Under greenhouse conditions, the mortality rates were 58.33, 48.75 and 57.55% for the aqueous, methanol and dichloromethane extracts, respectively. The LC₅₀ for aqueous, methanol and dichloromethane extracts were 4.6, 1.1 and 0.3%, respectively, in the laboratory, and 16.6, 13.3 and 3.5%, respectively, in the greenhouse. The treatments did not interfere with the tomato yield (weight and fruit diameter), nor was there significant difference among them. It is thus inferred that the use of the extracts for T. vaporariorum control is feasible.

Keywords : Mortality; Petiveria alliacea; Plant extracts; Tomato; Trialeurodes vaporariorum.