Effects Of Ginger Essential Oil On The Survival And Choice Behavior In Drosophila Melanogaster

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophidae) is a little insect about 3mm long, with a short life cycle of just two weeks, and is cheap and easy to keep large numbers. Therefore, it is one of the most valuable of organisms in biological research, particularly in genetics and developmental biology.Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a perennial herb and there have beening used as both food and medicinal materials for centuries of years in China. Ginger essential oil is extracted by means of steam distillation from the unpeeled or dried, ground-up root (rhizome) of the plant. The essential oil has various chemical constituents, which were identified by GC-MS, including the following: a-zingiberene( 18.37%) β-sesquipellandrene(7.22%) α- farnesene(1.96%) α-caryophyllene (6.04%) arylturmeric(6.77%). The therapeutic properties of Ginger oil are analgesic, anti-emetic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, bactericidal, carminative, cephalic, expectorant, febrifuge, laxative, rubefacient, stimulant, stomachic, sudorific and tonic. There are many research about the clinic application of ginger and its essential oil, whereas there is few report about the biological activity of ginger essential oil on insects.It indicated in our research that ginger essential oil showed acute toxicity effects on Drosophila melanogaster adults, especially when the concentration increases. The mortality of drosophila adult increased along with the concentration of ginger essential oil. The dose effect parameter of ginger essential oil on drosophila female and male adult was 2.5784 and 1.7404, respectively. The numberial values accorded with the rang of 1.2 to 4.5, which is the dose effect parameter of various chemical insecticide reported all over the world.The repellent activity of ginger essential oil against drosophila adults was studied in labrotary by dual choice tests in Y-tube olfactometer. The results indicated that the ginger essential oil had repellent activity against drosophila adults, especially against female. In another word, female adults are more sensitive to ginger essential oil than males. And they need a pause to choose, and then make choice of direction.Ginger essential oil showed significant negative effect on the mobility of maleadults. The rate of active male adults decreased along with the concentration increasing. The effect on female is not so distinctly as on males.Ginger essential oil significantly reduced both the average and maximum longevity of drosophila adults with the increase of concentration.