Identification of Saturated Hydrocarbons in Rice Variety, Seeraga Samba Infested by Stem Borer, Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker)

Saturated hydrocarbons (SHC) of rice variety, Seeraga samba damaged by stem borer, Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker) was identified through Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and compared with the healthy rice plants of the same variety. The hydrocarbon profile revealed a wide variation between healthy and damaged plantsin terms of hydrocarbon compounds and in their quantity. Totally 12 compounds were identifiedin healthy plants whereas damaged plants contained 11 compounds. Considering the quantity of hydrocarbon compounds present in damaged plants and healthy plants, the compounds such as decane, hexadecanoic acid, 9, 12, 15 octadecatrienoic acid, pentacosane, cyclohexanol, tricosane and 3-hexanol had 3.37, 3.33, 2.20, 2.26, 1.65, 1.38 and 1.23 times more amount of saturated hydrocarbons in stem borer damaged plants than the healthy rice plants. These compounds may be responsible for the attraction of natural enemies in the rice ecosystem to reduce the further infestation by stem borer.