Combination of gamma radiation and essential oils from medicinal plants in managing Tribolium castaneum contamination of stored products

Effectiveness of management of insect infestation of stored products with essential oils as viable alternatives to synthetic insecticides can be enhanced with gamma radiation. We studied effects of sublethal doses of essential oils from Rosmarinus officinalis (L.) and Perovskia atriplicifolia (Benth) (safe natural insecticides) in combination with gamma radiation on mortality of adults of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). The insects were subjected to two radiation doses and two concentrations of the essential oils in the air. This combined treatment increased the mortality, which was also 3–6 times higher than could be expected from the sum of the effects of each of the treatments. The synergistic effect was more pronounced in the case of R. officinalis (L.) than in the case of P. atriplicifolia (Benth). The experiments have shown that the known insecticidal effectiveness of the essential oils can be enhanced by preliminary irradiation. Possible approaches to implementation of the combined treatment are discussed. - Highlights: • The mortality of T. castaneum increased with an increase of the radiation dose. • R. officinalis was more toxic to T. castaneum than P. atriplicifolia. • Gamma radiation and essential oils could be used as combined methods in IPM. • Combination of radiation with essential oils made a synergistic effect. • The synergistic effect of the R–G was much more appropriate from P–G