Chemical composition and larvicidal activity of the essential oil of Tagetes minuta Linnaeus from the southern Brazilian highlands

Abstract Tagetes minuta L. is a naturalized species that is not endemic to the high-altitude fields of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil. In this study, we investigated the composition of the essential oil (EO) from the flowers of the plant and its larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti. The EO was obtained by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus. The chemical composition was determined using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The EO extraction yield was 4.9%, and the major compounds (Z)-tagetone, (Z)-β-ocimene, and dihydrotagetone were identified. The 24 h larvicidal activity was verified against that of L3 larvae of the Rockefeller strain of Ae. Aegypti. The EO showed larvicidal activity against Ae. aegypti, with LC50 = 17.28 μg/mL-1. The results indicate that the bioinsecticidal potential of T. minuta EO is promising for the development of research in the field of natural products.