Ankita Verma

Chemical Composition of Leaf Essential Oil of Wild and Domestic Genotypes of Murraya paniculata L.

Abstract The plant Murraya paniculata L. (locally known as Kamini) collected from two different locations of Uttarakhand were subjected to hydrodistillation for the isolation of essential oils which yielded about 0.6 % oil in both the collections. The essential oils of both the collections were studied for their chemical composition and antifungal activity against two phytopathogenic fungi such as Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotium rolfsii. The GC-FID analysis revealed the presence of over 10 compounds in each essential oil of which over 11–14 constituents have been identified which contribute 86.99 % and 76.25 % of the total oil respectively. Both the collections were dominated by sesquiterpenoids. Essential oil of Murraya paniculata (wild variety) was rich in oxygenated sesquiterpenoids mainly dominated by trans-verbenol (26.25 %) while essential oil of Murraya paniculata (domestic variety) was rich in sesquiterpene hydrocarbons being dominated by germacrene B (41.91 %) besides other minor constituents. The essential oil of Murraya paniculata (wild variety) showed significant antifungal activity, hence can be used as antifungal agent against the tested fungi after its proper clinical trials while domestic verity has non-significant antifungal activity. This was may be due to the presence of oxygenated sesquiterpenoids.

Effect of Sunlight and Ultraviolet Light on Dissipation of Fipronil Insecticide in Two Soils and Effect of pH on its Persistence in Aqueous Medium

In a laboratory investigation, the effect of natural sunlight and UV light exposure on dissipation of fipronil insecticide from two soils (clay loam and sandy clay loam) and the effect of pH on the persistence of fipronil in aqueous medium were studied. Dissipation of fipronil insecticide under sunlight followed biphasic first order kinetics in both soils. The half-life of the insecticide in sandy clay loam type soil was found to be 5.71 days for the first faster phase and 23.88 days for the second slower phase, whereas, in clay loam soil, the corresponding half-lives were 4.02 and 8.38 days, respectively. Under the UV light exposure, the dissipation of fipronil followed a single phase first order kinetics in both the soils with a half-life of 3.77 days in clay loam and 5.37 days in sandy clay loam, respectively. Residues of fipronil dissipated faster in clay loam than in sandy clay loam under both sunlight and UV lamp light. As compared to sunlight, dissipation was found to be faster under UV lamp light. Persistence of fipronil in aqueous medium under different pH conditions revealed that fipronil residues were below the limit of detection (LOD), <0.05 μg g−1, after 40 days of sampling at all the three pH. The dissipation of fipronil from aqueous medium increased with increasing pH from 5.0 to 9.0; the corresponding half-lives were 14.12, 9.83, and 6.76 days at pH 5.0, 7.0, and 9.0, respectively.