Efeito ecotoxicológico de óleos essenciais de plantas sobre colêmbolos Folsomia candida

Abstract

To meet the world demand for food, the use of pesticides in agriculture has been increasingly used. However, the application of pesticides can harm ecosystems. In this sense, some studies have been developed to seek alternatives to the use of synthetic pesticides, such as the use of essential oils of plant origin. There are studies with some species of the genus Eucalyptus analyzing toxicity in non-target organisms in the soil, however, for the species studied here, there is still no available data. This study evaluated the toxic potential of seven essential oils from different species of Eucalyptus to springtails of the species F. candida in Tropical Artificial Soil (SAT). Chronic toxicity tests were carried out at a temperature of 20 ± 2 °C with increasing concentrations of each oil (3.125; 6.25; 12.5; 25 and 50 mg kg-1). It was found that four of the seven oils did not show significant toxicity (E. saligna, E. grandis, E. benthamii and E. grancam) and three 2 showed significant toxicity (E. urograndis, E. dunnii and E. urocam). The concentration that causes a 50% reduction in the reproduction of organisms in relation to the control (EC50) was estimated for the three oils that showed toxicity, being 35.4, 41.8 and 42.8 mg kg-1 for E. urocam, E. dunnii and E. urograndis respectively. The results showed that there is a difference in toxicity between different species of the genus Eucalyptus, highlighting the need for further analysis of the different types of essential oils that can be used as biopesticides, especially oils of the Eucalyptus genus since there is few information available. respect. In addition, the use of essential oils for this purpose must be done with care, as they can be harmful to non-target species in the soil.