n -hexane fraction of Zingiber officinale and Moringa oleifera interferes with biological parameters of Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

n-hexane fraction of Zingiber officinale and Moringa oleifera interferes with biological parameters of Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) | bioRxiv /* */ /* */ <!-- <!-- /*! * yepnope1.5.4 * (c) WTFPL, GPLv2 */ (function(a,b,c){function d(a){return"[object Function]"==o.call(a)}function e(a){return"string"==typeof a}function f(){}function g(a){return!a||"loaded"==a||"complete"==a||"uninitialized"==a}function h(){var a=p.shift();q=1,a?a.t?m(function(){("c"==a.t?B.injectCss:B.injectJs)(a.s,0,a.a,a.x,a.e,1)},0):(a(),h()):q=0}function i(a,c,d,e,f,i,j){function k(b){if(!o&&g(l.readyState)&&(u.r=o=1,!q&&h(),l.onload=l.onreadystatechange=null,b)){"img"!=a&&m(function(){t.removeChild(l)},50);for(var d in y[c])y[c].hasOwnProperty(d)&&y[c][d].onload()}}var j=j||B.errorTimeout,l=b.createElement(a),o=0,r=0,u={t:d,s:c,e:f,a:i,x:j};1===y[c]&&(r=1,y[c]=[]),"object"==a?l.data=c:(l.src=c,l.type=a),l.width=l.height="0",l.onerror=l.onload=l.onreadystatechange=function(){k.call(this,r)},p.splice(e,0,u),"img"!=a&&(r||2===y[c]?(t.insertBefore(l,s?null:n),m(k,j)):y[c].push(l))}function j(a,b,c,d,f){return q=0,b=b||"j",e(a)?i("c"==b?v:u,a,b,this.i++,c,d,f):(p.splice(this.i++,0,a),1==p.length&&h()),this}function k(){var a=B;return a.loader={load:j,i:0},a}var l=b.documentElement,m=a.setTimeout,n=b.getElementsByTagName("script")[0],o={}.toString,p=[],q=0,r="MozAppearance"in l.style,s=r&&!!b.createRange().compareNode,t=s?l:n.parentNode,l=a.opera&&"[object Opera]"==o.call(a.opera),l=!!b.attachEvent&&!l,u=r?"object":l?"script":"img",v=l?"script":u,w=Array.isArray||function(a){return"[object Array]"==o.call(a)},x=[],y={},z={timeout:function(a,b){return b.length&&(a.timeout=b[0]),a}},A,B;B=function(a){function b(a){var a=a.split("!"),b=x.length,c=a.pop(),d=a.length,c={url:c,origUrl:c,prefixes:a},e,f,g;for(f=0;f<d;f++)g=a[f].split("="),(e=z[g.shift()])&&(c=e(c,g));for(f=0;f<b;f++)c=x[f](c);return c}function g(a,e,f,g,h){var i=b(a),j=i.autoCallback;i.url.split(".").pop().split("?").shift(),i.bypass||(e&&(e=d(e)?e:e[a]||e[g]||e[a.split("/").pop().split("?")[0]]),i.instead?i.instead(a,e,f,g,h):(y[i.url]?i.noexec=!0:y[i.url]=1,f.load(i.url,i.forceCSS||!i.forceJS&&"css"==i.url.split(".").pop().split("?").shift()?"c":c,i.noexec,i.attrs,i.timeout),(d(e)||d(j))&&f.load(function(){k(),e&&e(i.origUrl,h,g),j&&j(i.origUrl,h,g),y[i.url]=2})))}function h(a,b){function c(a,c){if(a){if(e(a))c||(j=function(){var a=[].slice.call(arguments);k.apply(this,a),l()}),g(a,j,b,0,h);else if(Object(a)===a)for(n in m=function(){var b=0,c;for(c in a)a.hasOwnProperty(c)&&b++;return b}(),a)a.hasOwnProperty(n)&&(!c&&!--m&&(d(j)?j=function(){var a=[].slice.call(arguments);k.apply(this,a),l()}:j[n]=function(a){return function(){var b=[].slice.call(arguments);a&&a.apply(this,b),l()}}(k[n])),g(a[n],j,b,n,h))}else!c&&l()}var h=!!a.test,i=a.load||a.both,j=a.callback||f,k=j,l=a.complete||f,m,n;c(h?a.yep:a.nope,!!i),i&&c(i)}var i,j,l=this.yepnope.loader;if(e(a))g(a,0,l,0);else if(w(a))for(i=0;i (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];var j=d.createElement(s);var dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.src='//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;j.type='text/javascript';j.async=true;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-M677548'); Skip to main content Home About Submit ALERTS / RSS Search for this keyword Advanced Search New Results n -hexane fraction of Zingiber officinale and Moringa oleifera interferes with biological parameters of Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) View ORCID Profile Oluwasegun John Jegede , Seun Olaitan Oladipupo , Olufunmilayo Eunice Oladipo doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.07.680921 Oluwasegun John Jegede a Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Federal University of Technology Akure , PMB 704, Akure, Ondo State. Nigeria c Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 0QF, University of Glasgow , Scotland, United Kingdom Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Oluwasegun John Jegede For correspondence: oluwasegunjegede{at}gmail.com Seun Olaitan Oladipupo b Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University , Auburn, AL 36830, USA Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site Olufunmilayo Eunice Oladipo a Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Federal University of Technology Akure , PMB 704, Akure, Ondo State. Nigeria Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site Abstract Full Text Info/History Metrics Preview PDF Abstract The development of insecticide resistance, high cost, misuse, dearth of technical expertise, and restrictive legislation associated with synthetic insecticides have necessitated the development of alternatives. Lessons from plant-insect interactions demonstrate that plant terpenes are worthy probes for insecticidal exploration. Hence, this study screened n -hexane fractions of Zingiber officinale and Moringa oleifera oils as protectant against Callosobruchus chinensis and revealed their chemical profiles using Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). M. oleifera (LC 50 ; 0.007 µl) was found to be more toxic than Z. officinale oil (LC 50 ; 0.055 µl) to C. chinensis . The oils showed a positive correlation with concentration at 24 h (r = 0.959), 48 h (r = 0.977), 72 h (r = 0.915) and 96 h (r = 0.924). GC-MS revealed 21 and 15 volatile compounds in Z. officinale and M. oleifera oils, respectively. The most domimant were 5-(1, 5-dimethyl-4-hexenyl)-2-methyl-1,3-Cyclohexadiene (13.64 %) and 8-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (34.52 %) in Z. officinale and M. oleifera oils, respectively. The plant fractions reduced the oviposition potential, egg hatching rate, and adult emergence of C. chinensis . Taken together, the results demonstrate possible developmental and inhibitory effects of the oils against C. chinensis and points to its possible inclusion in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices for C. chinensis . Highlights ➢ n -hexane fractions from Moringa oleifera seeds are more potent against Callosobruchus chinensis than that from Zingiber officinale rhizome. ➢ Both oils can disrupt biological parameters and induce mortality of C. chinensis . ➢ M. oleifera can be useful as grain protectant as it is ubiquitous in sub-saharan Africa, including Nigeria, and has been documented to improve grains’ protein quality in storage. 1. Introduction The geometric increase in human population has made the task of food protection of foremost interest. Globally, post-harvest losses of agricultural produce due to insect infestation is one of the major threats to food protection. In Africa alone, post-harvest losses of legumes (especially peas and beans) due to Callosobruchus species have been estimated to be about 45 % ( Tapondjou et al., 2002 ). For example, the pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) begins infestation by laying eggs on cowpeas and pigeon peas in the field and continues its development throughout storage thereby inflicting damage on the grain wholesomeness and marketability ( Lale and Kabeh, 2004 ; Gbaye et al., 2011 ). Insecticides such as permethrin, phosphine, pirimiphos-methyl, and lindane have been routinely used to protect legumes against C. chinensis damage. However, the development of resistance, acceptability, limited availability in certain areas, environmental contamination, and legislative restrictions have necessitated the need for the development of sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives ( Adarkwah et al., 2017 , Dougoud et al., 2019 ). At the forefront of these is also a weak and under-resourced capacity to control C. chinensis ( Chaubley, 2008 ; Ajayi et al., 2014 ). Thus, the recent trend in the exploration of plant metabolites (also known as essential oils) as candidates to mitigate against C. chinensis attack is unsurprising. Oil fractions from plants have showed promising bioactivity against insect pests including C. chinensis (Ajayi et al., 2017; Oladipo et al., 2019 ; Ribeiro et al., 2020 ). Plant oil desirability is due to its non-persistence, biodegradability, and low toxicity ( Koul et al., 2008 ; Oladipupo et al., 2019a ). These characteristics explain why essential oils (EOs) are perceived as worthy candidates for inclusion in integrated pest management strategies. Moreover, the ease of registration and ubiquity in tropics, especially to farmers in under-developed countries, make EOs worthy candidates for scientific explorations ( Oladipupo et al., 2019b ). Earlier studies have shown that the content and concentration of EOs are dictated by plant chemotype and genotype, solvent polarity, and extraction method ( Boursier et al., 2011 ; Gahukar, 2014 , Dougoud et al., 2019 ). Thus, chemical characterization of EOs evaluated as candidates for legume protectants is an important step towards understanding structural-activity relationship and subsequent inclusion/adoption as constituents of commercialized botanicals. Earlier studies have evaluated the bioactivity of some plant oils against C. chinensis. Upadhyay et al. (2006) reported ovipositional deterrence by Capparis decidua (Forssk.) against C. chinensis . Petroleum ether extract of four vegetable seeds in Cucurbitaceae family were found to be effective protectant against C. chinensis ( Mishra et al., 2007 ). In contact and fumigation tests, methanolic fractions from 30 plant species were found effective for managing populations of C. chinensis (Isman et al., 2001; Kim et al., 2003 ). Oladipo et al. (2019) reported that n -hexane fractions of Xylopia aethiopica (Dunal) and Senna occidentalis (L.) were more toxic to C. chinensis than acetone fractions. Contrastingly, acetone fractions of oils of both plants displayed higher ovipositional and eclosion deterrence than n -hexane fractions ( Oladipo et al., 2019 ). Moreover, Moringa oleifera Lam. and Zingiber officinale (Roscoe) oils have demonstrated insecticide effects against other insect pests. For example, hydrodistillate of Z. officinale are toxic to adult Tribolium spp. and larvae of Plodia interpunctella (Hubner) ( Maedeh et al., 2012 ; Martynov et al., 2019 ). Ethanolic fraction of Z. officinale demonstrated higher toxicity against C. chinensis than M. oleifera oil (Ajayi et al., 2017). To the best of our knowledge, the chemical characterization of n -hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera, and bioactivity on aspects of biological parameters of C. chinensis have never been evaluated. Therefore, the aims of this study were to: (1) reveal profile of chemical components of n -hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera using Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), (2) evaluate their toxicity against C. chinensis over time (hours), and (3) investigate the inhibitory potentials of these oils on oviposition and adult emergence of C. chinensis . 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 Insects A C. chinensis colony was started from an established laboratory colony maintained at the insectaries of the postgraduate research laboratory of the Department of Biology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. The laboratory colony were reared on disinfested cowpea seeds in a 1-liter glass jars at ambient temperature of 28 ± 2 ° C, with 75 ± 5 % RH, and a photoperiod of 12:12 (L: D) h. Five pairs of newly emerged adults (0–24 h old) of C. chinensis were selected from the laboratory colony and introduced into 250 ml plastic jars containing 200 g of disinfested cowpea seeds. The plastic jars were covered with muslin cloth to allow for ventilation and prevent the escape of C. chinensis . Adults (0–24 h old) that subsequently emerged from this were used for the bioassays. 2.2 Plant materials and oil extraction Rhizomes of Z. officinale and seeds of M. oleifera were purchased from the central market (Oja–Oba) in Akure municipal, Ondo state, Nigeria. Purchased specimens were confirmed by taxonomist and the valid correct names were confirmed at the plant list (available at http://www.theplantlist.org/ ). The plants were sorted to remove impurities, air dried on a laboratory bench, and ground into a fine powder with a marlex grinder (USHA 500-Watt Motor Power). The powder from each plant were sieved using 16 mesh size sieve. 300 g of each plant powder was soaked in 900 ml n -hexane in round-bottomed glass jar for 72 h and periodically stirred. Each solution was sieved using muslin cloth and concentrated using rotary evaporator at 40 ° C and rotary speed of 138 to 148 rpm for 3–4 hours. The resulting oil was air-dried to allow for traces of n -hexane to escape. The crude oil from each plant was diluted to obtain concentrations of 1-5 % (v/w) with the solvents ( n -hexane). 2.3 Bioassays 2.3.1 Chemical composition analysis of n-hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera Purification of oils were done using liquid-liquid chromatography with sodium sulphate on separating funnel packed with silica gel. The chemical composition analysis of n -hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera were carried out using a gas chromatograph (model 7890A; Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA) equipped with an Agilent J & W non-polar HP-5MS capillary column (30 cm X 0.320 mm; 0.25 µm film thickness), mass spectrometer (5975C VLMSD), and an injector (7683B series). The oven temperature was set at 80 ° C for two min, increased by 6 ° C per min until a temperature of 240 ° C was reached, and held constant at this temperature for 6 min. Helium carries gas flow, which was maintained at 100 kPa. A 1 µl aliquot of each oil was injected in a mass spectrometer. The run time for each sample was 36 min. The peak of each chemical component was expressed based on its retention time and abundance. The identification of components was achieved by searching the mass spectra database and checking for direct similarities with identified components in the system ( Adams, 2001 ). The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library was also accessed for components’ properties and documentation. 2.3.2 Assessment of the toxicity of n-hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera To evaluate the toxicity of Z. officinale and M. oleifera oils against C. chinensis , five test concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 µl v/w) were used. One ml of each oil test concentration was applied to 20 g of cowpea seeds in 250 ml round-bottomed transparent plastic containers. Containers were agitated for 5 - 10 min to ensure uniform coating of the seeds with the oils. Five pairs of 0 – 24 h old C. chinensis adults were introduced into each container. Untreated and solvent ( n -hexane) controls were similarly set up. All experiments were replicated three times in Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Adult mortality was recorded for 96 h at 24 h interval. At the expiration of 96 h; all adult insects, dead or alive, were removed from all replicates. 2.3.3 Ovipositional inhibitory bioassay of n-hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera Number of eggs laid on the seeds from the above set-up in each replicate were recorded. Observation for adult emergence commenced at 26 th day post-infestation. Number of adults that emerged from each replicate were recorded. Percent reduction in adult emergence of F 1 progeny was calculated using: Where C n is the number of emerged insects in the control and T n is the number of emerged insects in the treated containers. 2.4 Statistical analysis Adult mortality data were corrected with mortality obtained in control (untreated) using Abbott formula ( Abbott, 1925 ). Data transformation was done using square-root (for count data) and arc-sine (for percentages) transformation ( Tukey, 1977 ). Transformed data were analyzed using One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Tukey’s post-hoc test was used to separate the means at α = 0.05. Also, factorial analysis was conducted on mortality data to compare all variable factors for possible interactions using Minitab version 17 ( Payton et al., 2006 ). The median lethal concentration (LC 50 ) was calculated using Probit analysis ( Finney, 1971 ). The relationship between concentrations and percentage mortalities, at different exposure periods (24 – 96 h post-treatment) was determined using regression analysis. The corresponding correlation coefficients (r) for prediction equations were also established. All analyses, unless otherwise stated, were done using IBM SPSS software version 20 ( IBM SPSS Inc., 2011 ). 3. Results 3.1 Acquisition and chemical profile of n-hexane fraction of Z. officinale and M. oleifera The chromatograms showing profiles of the components in Z. officinale and M. oleifera oils are shown in Figures 1 and 2 , respectively. The GC-MS analysis revealed 21 volatile compounds in Z. officinale rhizome ( Table 1 ). The most dominant were 5-(1, 5-dimethyl-4-hexenyl)-2-methyl-1, 3-Cyclohexadiene (13.64 %) and dec-4-en-3-one-1-(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) (9.57 %). 15 volatile compounds were identified in M. oleifera seed ( Table 2 ). 8-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (34.52 %) and cis-Vaccenic acid (16.11 %) were the dominant components. Download figure Open in new tab Figure 1. Chromatogram showing the chemical components of n -hexane fraction of Zingiber officinale rhizome Download figure Open in new tab Figure 2. Chromatogram showing the chemical components of n -hexane fraction of Moringa oleifera seed View this table: View inline View popup Table 1. Relative amount and chemical components of n -hexane frcation of Z. officinale rhizome View this table: View inline View popup Download powerpoint Table 2. Relative amount and chemical components of n -hexane fraction of M. oleifera seed 3.2. Toxicity of n-hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera There was no mortality in the control experiment at 24 – 72 h for Z. officinale oil, and 24 h for M. oleifera oil ( Figure 3 ). At 24 h, only the highest concentration achieved mortality (3.33 %) of C. chinensis for Z. officinale oil. The mortality rates of C. chinensis ranged from 20 – 40 % at 20 – 50 µl for M. oleifera oil. Overall (24 – 96 h), the increase of M. oleifera oil concentration led to an increase in the mortality of C. chinensis . After 72 h, there was a progression in toxicity of (3.33 – 23.33 %) of Z. officinale oil against C. chinensis . Statistical analysis revealed no signficant differences (P = 0.141) in mortality between concentrations of Z. officinale oil. Mortality rate of C. chinensis ranged from 37.04 – 66.67 % for M. oleifera oil. The toxicity of Z. officinale oil against C. chinensis improved after 96 h. However, this was at 50 µl. Relative to Z. officinale oil, M. oleifera oil exhibited significantly higher toxicity against C. chinensis from 24 – 96 h. Thus, median lethal concentration of M. oleifera (LC 50 ) was much lower (0.007 µl) than that of Z. officinale oil (0.055 µl) ( Table 3 ). The slope of the log dose-probit line indicated that C. chinensis exposed to M. oleifera oil had the shallowest slope (0.96) while C. chinensis exposed to Z. officinale had the steepest slope (2.69) indicating heterogeneous and homogeneous response to both oils, respectively. Regression analysis revealed significant (P < 0.05) positive correlation between mortality and oil concentrations at all exposure periods: 24 h (r = 0.959), 48 h (r = 0.977), 72 h (r = 0.915) and 96 h (r = 0.924) ( Table 4 ) of C. chinensis exposed to Z. officinale and M. oleifera oils. Likewise, there were significant impact of the interactions of time X concentration (T X C) (F 10,192 = 5.95, P < 0.0001). Download figure Open in new tab Figure 3. Percentage mortality of C. chinensis exposed to n -hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera . 0 = control group. Each bar corresponds to the mean ± SE of four replicates. View this table: View inline View popup Download powerpoint Table 3. Median Lethal Concentration (LC 50 in ml/20 g of cowpea) of n -hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera on C. chinensis . View this table: View inline View popup Download powerpoint Table 4. Relationship between concentration of n -hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera and mortality of C. chinensis 3.3 Oviposition inhibitory assay There was a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the number of eggs laid by C. chinensis on the untreated control and solvent control ( Figure 5 ) compared to the plant fractions. The egg counts recorded on seeds treated with Z. officinale oil at 20 µl (80.67), 30 µl (80.33) and 40 µl (80.00) are comparable with one another. On the other hand, the egg counts on the seeds treated with M. oleifera oil differed significantly (p < 0.05), one from another at the concentrations investigated. Taken together, the lowest number of eggs was observed on cowpea seeds treated with of M. oleifera oil at 50 µl (34.67). Download figure Open in new tab Figure 5. Mean Percentage (a) reduction in adult emergence, and (b) inhibition of C. chinensis from eggs laid on cowpeas treated with n- hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera . SC = solvent control. Each bar corresponds to the mean ± SE of four replicates. 3.3 Variable factors and toxicity of n-hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera to C. Chinensis General Linear Model (GLM) revealed significant differences in the effect of time (T) (F 3,192 = 191.35, P < 0.0001) and concentration (C) (F 5,192 = 198.89, P < 0.0001) on the mortality. Mean percent reduction in C. chinensis emergence ranged from 44.95 – 90.71 %, while inhibition ranged from 18.63 – 83.38 % for Z. officinale oil. For M. oleifera oil, the range of percent reduction in emergence and inhibition were 34.01 – 90.71 % and 18.63 – 91.67 %, respectively. 3.4 Developmental inhibitory effects of n-hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera There was similarity in the trend of adult emergence ( Figure 5a ) and mean inhibitory ( Figure 5b ) effects of Z. officinale and M. oleifera oils. Significantly higher (P < 0.05) number of C. chinensis emerged from the control. However, for both oils, a dose-dependent relationship was observed for adults’ emergence and percent inhibition. 4. Discussion The application of insecticides (commonly pyrethroids and organophosphates) for the control of the notorious pest, C. chinensis , remains the most popular among farmers and other insect pest control managers. However, due to continued exacerbation of insecticide resistance, high cost, misuse, dearth of technical expertise, and restrictive legislation associated with synthetic insecticides, the continued use cannot be further encouraged. Thus, there is a sought interest in the provision of effective and sustainable insect pest control agents. As alternatives, lessons from plant - insect interactions demonstrate that plant terpenes are worthy probes for insecticidal exploration ( Berenbaum et al., 1986 ; Li et al., 2002 ). Interestingly, the use of oils from plant materials have shown promising results (Ajayi and Adedire, 2003; Tapondjou et al., 2002 , Ajayi et al., 2014 ; Oladipupo et al., 2019b ; Ribeiro et al., 2020 ). In consonance with this, this research work screened n -hexane fractions of Z. officinale and M. oleifera as protectants against C. chinensis . The results demonstrate that the constituent of the plant materials contain chemical compounds with possible inhibitory, neurotoxic, and insecticidal properties. The present study reports the insecticidal activity of Z. officinale and M. oleifera oils against C. chinensis with M. oleifera showing higher toxicity. However, both oils showed a concentration dependent response. Fractions obtained from plant materials have been found to cause severe damage including mortality in Callosobruchus species ( Mishra et al . 2007 ; Ajayi et al . 2014 ). Chaubley (2008) reported that oils from Piper nigrum , Anethum graveolens , Cuminum cyminum and Nigella sativa caused larvae and adult mortality of C. chinensis . In this study, the mortality rate was found to increase with an increase in concentration, and the LC 50 values decreased at different graded exposure periods indicating that the response of the bruchid to n -hexane fractions of M. oleifera and Z. officinale was concentration and time dependent. The superior toxicity displayed by M. oleifera over Z. officinale is consistent with the findings of Ajayi et al. (2007). Moreover, earlier attempt to describe the toxicity of M. oleifera against insect pests appear widespread in literature. For example, the presence of the fatty acids 8-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester and cis-Vaccenic acid in M. oleifera has been implicated to cause mortality ( Ashfaq et al . 2012 ; Leone et al . 2015 ). These fatty acid cause severe asphyxiation, thereby making breathing impossible in insect ( Olayemi and Alabi 1994 ; Ajayi et al., 2018 ). Compared to Z. officinale, the proportion of fatty acids in M. oleifera is about 30 % more. So, this may demonstrate a scientific rationale for the superior toxicity of M. oleifera . Z. officinale showed delayed toxicity in this study. This contrasts with the findings of Chaubey (2013) . Since the bioactivity of a plant metabolite often varies with respect to edaphic and environmental conditions ( Gahukar, 2014 , Dougoud et al., 2019 ), the absence of the phytochemical constituent analysis in the study complicates straight forward comparison. In general, essential oils are sought after because of their biodegradability (high volatility as a funcion of low-persistence in the enviroment). Volatility is a function of hydrogenated to oxygenated ratio with hydrogenated compounds being more volatile (Ahn et al., 2008; Regnault-Roger et al., 2008 ). Interestingly, the GC-MS results showed that both Z. officinale and M. oleifera oils have a higher proportion of hydrogenated compunds. These hydrogenated compounds (broadly termed monoterpenoids) have been described to disrupt metabolic pathways, alter biological parameters, and cause death in insects, including C. chinensis ( Kéita et al., 2001 ; Jiang et al., 2012 ; Ribeiro et al., 2020 ). Thus, the toxicity associated with the oils may be related to their components. Nonetheless, a straight forward assumption that the dominant compounds may have been solely responsible for the observed toxicity should be made with caution as it has been shown that that is not often the case ( Veras et al., 2012 ; Tak and Isman, 2015 ). However, essential oils do not only affect insects by causing mortality, but also interferes with life-history traits and biochemical functions. For example, the oils inhibited ovipositional ability of C. chinensis , and retarded subsequent morph into adults. Similar observations have been made on eggs of the grain moth and C. chinensis ( Ileke, 2013 ; Chaubey, 2013 ). Interestingly, recent findings have shown that essential oils, including M. oleifera , not only represent safe protectants against insect attack, but these oils can also boost the nutritional quality by increasing the amino acid index, protein efficiency ratio, biological value and net protein value ( Ilesanmi and Gungula, 2016 ). More so, synthetic insecticides such as organophosphates routinely used as grain protectants depletes the nutritional constituents of grains in storage, rendering them unsuitable for consumption ( Akami et al., 2017 ). In conclusion, the findings of this study demonstrate that n -hexane fraction of M. oleifera are more toxic to C. chinensis than Z. offcinale . More so, both plant oils can reduce egg hatchability, retard C. chinensis development and induced mortality. Taken together, the results demonstrate possible developmental and inhibitory effects of the oils against C. chinensis and points to its possible inclusion in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices for C. chinensis. The ubiquity of these plant material to local farmers can fast-track adoptions in localities where there is widespread insecticide development, restrictive legislation, and lack of funds. However, further study focusing on the mode of action of these oils is merited, before subsequent incorporation into management system for grain (cowpea) protection. Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Author contributions Oluwasegun J. Jegede : Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Data analysis, Resources, Writing – review & editing. Seun O. Oladipupo: Data curation, Data analysis, Writing – original draft, review & editing. Olufunmilayo E. Oladipo: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Supervision, Writing – review & editing. Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to Dr. Rotimi Aladesanwa for assistance with data analysis, and Mrs. Toyin Ojo for technical support. Footnotes This revision was made to update few initially unnoticed grammatical and punctuation errors that were recently observed across the manuscript. Presently, the thoughts and grammatical flow of the manuscript are well refined and adapted to aid better comprehension of the original scientific findings in the manuscript. For example, few scientific and taxonomic nomenclatures were not well italicised; this has been largely corrected across the manuscript. Moreover, few sentences that were not well aligned for better comprehension of scientific readerships were now better suited. This revision becomes essential for smooth and fast peer reviewing process when this manuscript is submitted to targeted journal for publication. 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(Coleoptera: Bruchidae) Oluwasegun John Jegede , Seun Olaitan Oladipupo , Olufunmilayo Eunice Oladipo bioRxiv 2025.10.07.680921; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.07.680921 Share This Article: Copy Citation Tools n -hexane fraction of Zingiber officinale and Moringa oleifera interferes with biological parameters of Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) Oluwasegun John Jegede , Seun Olaitan Oladipupo , Olufunmilayo Eunice Oladipo bioRxiv 2025.10.07.680921; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.07.680921 Citation Manager Formats BibTeX Bookends EasyBib EndNote (tagged) EndNote 8 (xml) Medlars Mendeley Papers RefWorks Tagged Ref Manager RIS Zotero Tweet Widget Facebook Like Google Plus One Subject Area Zoology Subject Areas All Articles Animal Behavior and Cognition (7636) Biochemistry (17704) Bioengineering (13898) Bioinformatics (41967) Biophysics (21460) Cancer Biology (18599) Cell Biology (25525) Clinical Trials (138) Developmental Biology (13384) Ecology (19909) Epidemiology (2067) Evolutionary Biology (24326) Genetics (15613) Genomics (22512) Immunology (17740) Microbiology (40423) Molecular Biology (17191) Neuroscience (88645) Paleontology (667) Pathology (2835) Pharmacology and Toxicology (4825) Physiology (7646) Plant Biology (15158) Scientific Communication and Education (2046) Synthetic Biology (4302) Systems Biology (9825) Zoology (2271)