Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM). CONICET-UNMDP. Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Investigaciones Físicas de Mar del Plata (IFIMAR), CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Exp Parasitol. 2022 Jul;238:108279. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2022.108279. Epub 2022 May 18.
Varroosis is a disease caused by the mite Varroa destructor, and it is considered one of the biggest threats to honey bee populations globally. Mite control is centered on the use of synthetic acaricides, such as amitraz and flumethrine. However, high usage of these chemicals is associated with a wide variety of undesirable effects on bee colonies, including the development of resistance and persistence of harmful residues of acaricides in hive products used by humans. Botanical extracts have been identified as a potentially suitable organic alternative to synthetic acaricides. Essential oils, such as clove, eucalyptus, lemongrass, and oregano, have been found to exhibit acaricidal activity against V. destructor. The main goal of this work was to assess the bioactivity of the Cymbopogon nardus essential oil from two different locations (Argentina and India), and the activity of its major component the monoterpene citronellal. According to our results, complete essential oil from India is more effective in controlling parasitosis than the isolated citronellal component. The essential oil of C. nardus from Argentina demonstrated promise for the control of varroosis, as well as exhibiting low toxicity against bees (LC = 11.84 μL/mL). In addition, this essential oil may avoid the problems caused by synthetic acaricides, such as the emergence of resistance foci in Varroa and residues in hive products. Future research needs to investigate the delivery of volatile essentials oils to target mite populations.
瓦螨病是由瓦螨引起的一种疾病，被认为是全球蜜蜂种群面临的最大威胁之一。螨虫防治主要集中在使用合成杀螨剂，如双甲脒和氟虫腈。然而，这些化学物质的大量使用与蜜蜂种群的各种不良影响有关，包括对蜜蜂种群的抗药性发展和杀螨剂有害残留物在人类使用的蜂产品中的持久性。植物提取物已被确定为合成杀螨剂的潜在合适有机替代品。研究发现，香茅、桉树、柠檬草和牛至等精油对瓦螨具有杀螨活性。这项工作的主要目标是评估来自两个不同地点（阿根廷和印度）的香茅草精油及其主要成分单萜柠檬醛的生物活性。根据我们的结果，来自印度的完整精油比分离的香茅醛成分更有效地控制寄生虫病。来自阿根廷的香茅草精油在控制瓦螨病方面表现出了前景，并且对蜜蜂的毒性较低（LC=11.84μL/mL）。此外，这种精油可能避免了合成杀螨剂引起的问题，如瓦螨抗药性焦点的出现和蜂产品中的残留。未来的研究需要调查将挥发性精油输送到目标螨虫种群的方法。
