Relative Repellency of Seven Repellent Oils Products to Adults of Cigarette Beetle in Laboratory Assays

The cigarette beetle Lasioderma serricorne, a pest in stored spices in India. The cost-effective pest control to protect stored products being essential oils locally available across India as possible and easily accessible products to protect stored spices like turmeric. Studies at Sun Agro Research Centre, Chennai in May 2024 on seven oils showed significant differences in overall repellency to adult cigarette beetles in filter paper disc assays in petri plates. It was evident that turmeric oils were superior in repellency across different intervals studied, while Patchouli oil was the poorest candidate for such adult repellency among the seven treatments. The authors conclude that based on cost-efficacy, and local availability, they can recommend turmeric oil to those who store spices like turmeric for safe and assured protection from cigarette beetle damage in storage and could be recommended as the best product for such storage protection across India.