Essential oils: A renewable source for the management of stored product insects-A review

From time immemorial, man has been in a continual fight with pests (Insects, plant disease, rodents, weeds etc.) that compete for his food supply, damage his forests and live stocks and is responsible for several diseases. The interest in the use of essential oils for the pests and pathogens control is not new and originates from the need for pesticide production with eco-friendly, easily biodegradability and negligible health impacts than synthetic pesticides. These oils have a potential to be used as protectant of stored products including cereals, grains and pulses. Recently it has been reported that some chemical constituents derived from such essential oils also affect the nervous system of stored product insects. The expanding literature on the possibility of the use of these volatiles is reviewed in the present time. It focuses on the oil's effect on oviposition, repellency, ovicidal, pupicidal, larvicidal, insecticidal and antifeedant activities of insects. Possible attractive effect of essential oils to pests may offer novel application in management of stored product insects. The insect controlling properties of essential oils due to presence of many active constituents (terpenes, terpenoids, carotenoids, coumerines, curcumines) are of great importance in food industry and offer a possibility to substitutive natural pesticides for preservation of food commodity which may originate as a safe, eco-friendly, cost-effective, renewable and easily biodegradable pesticides in near future.