Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Four Salvia Essential Oils and Individual Compounds against Two Species of Mosquitoes

The chemical compositions of essential oils obtained from four species of genus Salvia were analyzed by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main compounds identified from Salvia species essential oils were as follows: 1,8-cineole (71.7%), α-pinene (5.1%), camphor (4.4%), and β-pinene (3.8%) in Salvia apiana; borneol (17.4%), β-eudesmol (10.4%), bornyl acetate (5%), and guaiol (4.8%) in Salvia elegans; bornyl acetate (11.4%), β-caryophyllene (6.5%), caryophyllene oxide (13.5%), and spathulenol (7.0%) in Salvia leucantha; α-thujene (25.8%), viridiflorol (20.4%), β-thujene (5.7%), and camphor (6.4%) in Salvia officinalis. In biting-deterrent bioassays, essential oils of S. leucantha and S. elegans at 10 μg/cm2 showed activity similar to that of DEET (97%, N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) in two species of mosquitoes, whereas the activities of S. officinalis and S. apiana essential oils were lower than those of the other oils or DEET. Pure compounds β-eudesmol and guaiol showed biting-deterrent activity similar to DEET at 25 nmol/cm2, whereas the activity of 13-epi-manool, caryophyllene oxide, borneol, bornyl acetate, and β-caryophyllene was significantly lower than that of β-eudesmol, guaiol, or DEET. All essential oils showed larvicidal activity except that of S. apiana, which was inactive at the highest dose of 125 ppm against both mosquito species. On the basis of 95% CIs, all of the essential oils showed higher toxicity in Anopheles quadrimaculatus than in Aedes aegypti. The essential oil of S. leucantha with an LC50 value of 6.2 ppm showed highest toxicity in An. quadrimaculatus.