Essential oils as post-harvest crop protectants against the fruit fly drosophila suzukii: Bioactivity and organoleptic profile

The essential oils extracted from mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) fruits, and from tea tree (Maleleuca alternifolia (Maiden and Betche) Cheel) leaves have been chemically analyzed and tested for their bioactivity against D. suzukii. Besides, to estimate consumers’ acceptability of the essential oil (EO) treatments, we evaluated their impact on the organoleptic characteristics of the EO-treated fruits. The main chemical constituents of the two EOs were 1,8-cineole and 4-terpineol for M. alternifolia (22.4% and 17.6% of the total components, respectively), and limonene (83.6% of the total components) for C. reticulata. The behavioral tests indicate that the two EOs are able to deter D. suzukii oviposition and that D. suzukii shows positive chemotaxis to low concentrations of the EOs and negative chemotaxis when the EO concentration increases. While no negative effects on the organoleptic profiles were detected for fruits treated with C. reticulata EO, the olfactory profile of fruits treated with M. alternifolia EO was so negative that they were defined as “not suitable for consumption” by panellists. Overall, our findings indicate that the use of EOs for the post-harvest protection of small fruits is feasible, provided that the essential oils are selected not only for their bioactivity against the insect pest but also for their affinity with the consumers’ sensorial system

CRYSTALpytools: a Python infrastructure for the Crystal code

CRYSTALpytools is an open source Python project available on GitHub that implements a user-friendly interface to the Crystal code for quantum-mechanical condensed matter simulations. CRYSTALpytools provides functionalities to: i) write and read Crystal input and output files for a range of calculations (single-point, electronic structure, geometry optimization, harmonic and quasi-harmonic lattice dynamics, elastic tensor evaluation, topological analysis of the electron density, electron transport, and others); ii) extract relevant information; iii) create workflows; iv) post-process computed quantities, and v) plot results in a variety of styles for rapid and precise visual analysis. Furthermore, CRYSTALpytools allows the user to translate Crystal objects (the central data structure of the project) to and from the Structure and Atoms objects of the pymatgen and ASE libraries, respectively. These tools can be used to create, manipulate and visualise complicated structures and write them efficiently to Crystal input files. Jupyter Notebooks have also been developed for the less Python savvy users to guide them in the use of CRYSTALpytools through a user-friendly graphical interface with predefined workflows to complete different specific tasks

Artemisia spp. essential oils against the disease-carrying blowfly Calliphora vomitoria

Background: Synanthropic flies play a considerable role in the transmission of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms. In this work, the essential oil (EO) of two aromatic plants, Artemisia annua and A. dracunculus, were evaluated for their abilities to control the blowfly Calliphora vomitoria. A. annua and A. dracunculus EOs were extracted, analysed and tested in laboratory bioassays. Besides, the physiology of EOs toxicity and the EOs antibacterial and antifungal properties were evaluated. Results: Both Artemisia EOs were able to deter C. vomitoria oviposition on fresh beef meat. At 0.05 μL cm-2 A. dracunculus EO completely inhibited C. vomitoria oviposition. Toxicity tests, by contact, showed LD50 of 0.49 and 0.79 μL EO per fly for A. dracunculus and A. annua, respectively. By fumigation, LC50 values were 49.54 and 88.09 μL L-1 air for A. dracunculus and A. annua, respectively. EOs AChE inhibition in C. vomitoria (IC50 = 202.6 and 472.4 mg L-1, respectively for A. dracunculus and A. annua) indicated that insect neural sites are targeted by the EOs toxicity. Finally, the antibacterial and antifungal activities of the two Artemisia EOs may assist in the reduction of transmission of microbial infections/contaminations. Conclusions: Results suggest that Artemisia EOs could be of use in the control of C. vomitoria, a common vector of pathogenic microorganisms and agent of human and animal cutaneous myiasis. The prevention of pathogenic and parasitic infections is a priority for human and animal health. The Artemisia EOs could represent an eco-friendly, low-cost alternative to synthetic repellents and insecticides to fight synanthropic disease-carrying blowflies

Characterization of volatile metabolites of Tithonia diversifolia(Hemsley) A. gray leaves and flowers

The leaf and floral essential oils of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsley) A. Gray (Asteraceae) were analyzed for composition by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Forty-two constituents were identified in the leaf and floral oils, accounting for 97.2% and 95.3% of the total composition, respectively. Germacrene D (46.0%), β-caryophyllene (12.2%), and methyl carvacrol (9.8%) were the prominent components of the leaf oil, while the main constituents of the floral oil consisted of germacrene D (32.5%), α-pinene (7.5%), and β-caryophyllene (6.6%

Sphagneticola trilobata (L.) Pruski: an aromatic invasive agricultural weed abundant in alpha-pinene

Sphagneticola trilobata (L.) Pruski (Asteraceae) is an essential oil- bearing soil creeper, with ethnomedicinal claims. The chemical composition of the volatile metabolites of the leaves, stem, and flowers were analyzed by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of forty constituents were identified, accounting for 98.2-99.5% of the oils composition. The predominant compounds in the leaf oil were α-pinene (57.9%) and germacrene D (7.1%), while α-pinene characterized the stem (89.5%) and flower (95.8%) oils. S. trilobata is a natural rich source of α- pinene, and can be exploited for further useful benefit

Senna occidentalis (L.) Link and Senna hirsuta (L.) H. S. Irwin & Barneby: constituents of fruit essential oils and antimicrobial activity

Senna occidentalis and S. hirsuta are mostly gathered from the wild for medicinal use and have a disagreeable odour when crushed. The volatile oils isolated from fresh fruits of S. occidentalis and S. hirsuta were subjected to gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and antimicrobial assays. GC and GC-MS analyses permitted the identification of 58 constituents. S. occidentalis oil was dominated by cyperene (10.8%), β-caryophyllene (10.4%), limonene (8.0%) and caryophyllene oxide (6.8%). The main components of S. hirsuta fruit oil were benzyl benzoate (24.7%), τ-cadinol (18.9%), 2,5-dimethoxy-p-cymene (14.6%) and β-caryophyllene (5.1%). S. occidentalis fruit oil exhibited better antimicrobial activity (MIC 78-312 μg/mL) against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus niger compared with S. hirsuta oil. The compositions and the activities of the fruit essential oils of S. occidentalis and S. hirsuta are reported for the first time

In vivo anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities, and chemical constituents of essential oil from the leaf of Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis (Rubiaceae)

The chemical constituents, anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities of the leaf essen-tial oil hydrodisitlled from the Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis (Rubiaceae) were reported. The chemical constituents of the essential were analyzed using gas chromatography-flame ioniza-tion detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The hot plate and carrageenan-induced models were used to determine the anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities. The main compounds of the oil were pentadecanal 17 (49.2%), geranial 4 (12.3%), ar-turmerone 14 (8.2%) and 10-epi-γ-eudesmol 10 (6.2%). The essential oil of G. jasminoides at 100 and 400 mg.kg-1 doses significantly (p < 0.001) increased the latency period for the reaction duration in the anti-nociceptive study. The carrageenan-induced edema model reveals the suppression of inflammatory mediators (p < 0.001) within 1st, 2nd and 4th h for 100 mg.kg-1 dose, 1st and 4th h (200 mg.kg-1) and 1st-3rd h (400 mg.kg-1). The results indicate the potential of G. jasminoides essential oil as a source of pain relieving agent

Growing basil in the underwater biospheres of Nemo's Garden®: Phytochemical, physiological and micromorphological analyses

The need for alternative cultivation methods is urgent for regions of the world where cultivable land is scarce: underwater areas are unexploited and vast. Nemo’s Garden® Project aims at creating a green and alternative agriculture system: its biospheres are underwater greenhouses, developed for areas where plants growth is difficult in terrestrial conditions, due to climate change. Basil was chosen as model plant to study its phyto- chemical, physiological, and micromorphological parameters, in comparison with the same plants grown in terrestrial conditions in the Sanremo Research Centre for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (CREA-Centro di Ricerca Orticoltura e Florovivaismo) greenhouse. While the micromorphological analyses showed no detectable differences between control and biospheres samples, the phytochemical investigations evidenced a switch of the essential oil chemotype from methyl eugenol/linalool to methyl eugenol, respectively. The headspaces were also different: sesquiterpenes dominated the biospheres samples, whereas oxygenated monoterpenes accounted for half the control sample emission. Differences also emerged in the physiological investigation: total chlorophyll, total carotenoids and total polyphenols were present in higher amounts in the biospheres samples, with a 31.52% and 13.3% increase in the antioxidant activity and polyphenols content, respectively. Basil was well adapted in the biosphere environment, whose influence should be studied in different species to assess the viability of an industrial scale-up of the Nemo’s Garden®