Isolation and identification of acaricidal compounds in Eupatorium adenophorum petroleum ether extract and determination of their acaricidal activity against Psoroptes cuniculi.

We used multiple silica gel column chromatography and thin-layer chromatography coupled with (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and (13)C NMR to separate and identify the active acaricidal ingredients in Eupatorium adenophorum petroleum ether extract. The acaricidal activity of each compound was tested against Psoroptes cuniculi in vitro. Three compounds had strong acaricidal activity against P. cuniculi in vitro. The insecticidal effect of 0.5% compound 9β-hydroxy-ageraphorone was better than the insecticidal effect of fenvalerate, and compounds 9-oxo-ageraphorone and 9-oxo-10,11-dehydro-ageraphorone exhibited higher insecticidal effects than 9β-hydroxy-ageraphorone. Thus, the E. adenophorum petroleum ether extract contains an effective composition of acaricides that could potentially be developed as a promising plant-origin acaricide.