Abstract

The essential oil of Petroselinum crispum was extracted by hydrodistillation and its chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The GC/MS method detected 31 constituents of the essential oil extracted from P. crispum, from which 26 were identified by the analysis. Phenylpropanoids were the major compounds, comprising 52.07% of the oil and consisting mainly of apiole (41.05%). The essential oil was subjected to classical chromatography and its four fractions (FR1, FR2, FR3 and FR4) showed acaricidal and larvicidal activity. The FR1 consists of myrcene (10.15%); limonene (9.72%); p-mentha-1,4,(8)-diene (20.99%) and p-mentha-1,5,8-triene (59.14%). The FR2 consists of ρ-cymen-8-ol (72.43%); α-terpineol (16.65%); trans-carveol (7.44%); citronellol (1.37%) and carveol (2.11%). The FR3 consists of myristicin (99.90%) and the FR4 of elemicin (1.87%); carotol (0.43%) and apiole (96.80%). Lethal concentrations (LC50 and LC99.9) of parsley’s essential oil on engorged female of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus were of 73, 400 μg/ml and of 109, 760 μg/ml, respectively. The values of LC50 and LC99.9 were 0.82 and 9.62 μg/ml, respectively for the fraction FR4. The larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti showed the best results in the fraction FR4, with values of LC50 and LC99.9 of 0.01 and 0.07 μg/ml, respectively. Results demonstrated that the parsley’s essential oil and its major compound apiole are potentially useful in the bio-control of R. (B.) microplus and A. aegypti. This work should support complementary studies to explore the use of the parsley’s essential oil in the bio-control of R. (B.) microplus and A. aegypti.

Key words: Apiole, phenylpropanoids, monoterpenes, essential oil, parsley, Aedes aegypti, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, anticholinesterase.