Mosquito-borne diseases remain a major concern in the southern United States. Illnesses and deaths due to West Nile virus have increased within the last two years. New and more environmentally friendly tools are needed to combat mosquitoes that transmit this virus and other disease pathogens. The Lamiaceae (mint) family of plants is well recognized for its volatile constituents that display a range of insecticidal activities. Slender mountain mint, Pycnanthemum tenuifolium, is considered an ethnobotanical and has been used to make teas for medicinal purposes and to make natural skin rubs to repel pestiferous insects. In preliminary Petri dish assays, female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were exposed to cut plant parts of P. tenuifolium. Mosquitoes exposed to cut buds exhibited 100% mortality in 24 h. We obtained the essential oil of P. tenuifolium buds by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus. The main component, pulegone, was identified by GC-MS and NMR. This study describes the evaluation of the essential oil derived from the buds of P. tenuifolium for mosquitocidal activity.

Composition and mosquitocidal activity of the essential oil of <i>Pycnanthemum tenuifolium</i>

247th National Meeting (2014)

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Composition and mosquitocidal activity of the essential oil of Pycnanthemum tenuifolium