Insecticidal potential of Iranian herbal pharmaceutical formulations against adults of the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (F.) (Col.: Ptinidae: Xyletininae)

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the use of biorational pesticides as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional chemical pesticides. In Iran, numerous plant essential oils and extracts have been formulated by different companies and marketed as herbal drugs under various commercial names for the treatment of human diseases. Given that these herbal products contain bioactive compounds with known insecticidal properties, we hypothesized that these pharmaceutical formulations possess insecticidal activity. Accordingly, this study evaluated the fumigant toxicity of ten commercially available Iranian herbal pharmaceutical formulations derived from the essential oils of native medicinal plants against adults of the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Col.: Ptinidae: Xyletininae), one of the most destructive and widespread pests of stored products in domestic environments. All ten formulations exhibited fumigant toxicity against the beetles after 24 h of exposure. Compared with pure myrtle essential oil (LC 50 = 118.39 μL/L air), the estimated LC 50 values (μL/L air) of the formulations, ranked from most to least effective, were as follows: Myrtex® (122.64), MG® (134.24), Rosemary® (270.20), Mycoderm® (275.04), Fennelin® (292.63), Antimigraine® (293.38), Tussivin® (319.36), Gastrolit® (319.50), Persica® (371.12), and Menthol® (784.93). GC–MS analysis revealed that monoterpenoids, monoterpenes, triterpenoids, phenylpropanoids, and fatty acid esters were the predominant constituents of these formulations. The findings suggest that the human herbal pharmaceutical formulations utilized in this study, which demonstrate significant fumigant toxicity against a notable stored-product pest, may warrant further investigation for their potential in managing storage pests within household settings.