Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Essential Oil Extracted from the Aerial Part of Elsholtzia fruticosa against Ditylenchus destructor

The present study investigated the chemical composition of essential oil extracted fromElsholtzia fruticosa, and evaluated the biological activities of the essential oil and its main components againstDitylenchus destructor. The essential oil ofE. fruticosawas obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC/ MS. Twenty-three components of essential oil were identified. The most abundant compounds were eucalyptol (40.1%), gamma-terpinene (15.8%), limonene (9.3%) and beta-pinene (5.2%). Essential oil and three major constituents (eucalyptol, gamma-terpinene, and limonene) were tested for their biological activities againstD. destructor. The results showed that the essential oil, eucalyptol, gamma-terpinene, and limonene exhibited a strong effect of suppression againstD. destructor(EC50/24h = 0.16, 0.27, 0.36 and 0.23 mg/ml, respectively). The essential oil, eucalyptol,a-terpinene, and limonene also possessed the obvious nematicidal activities againstD. destructor(LC50/24h = 0.18, 0.46, 0.66 and 0.38 mg/ml, respectively). The essential oil and main components described herein merit further study as potential botanical nematicides againstD. destructor.