The Effect of n-Hexane Extracts of Prunus Seeds on Tribolium Castaneum Adult Mortality

Botanical insecticides continue to attract the attention of researchers and those interested in pest control of crops, especially stored crops. The present study aims to discover and use plant extracts, to control insects that infect stored economic field crops such as the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, which is a stubborn and notorious pest resistant to pesticides that spreads in fields and warehouses. The study focused on two Prunus armeniaca L. varieties, Castelbrite and Priana, and two cultivars of Prunus domestic L., Showtime and Pissardi. The Soxhlet apparatus was used to obtain the n-hexane extract because A Soxhlet apparatus is used for extraction because it allows for efficient and continuous extraction of compounds from a solid the sample using a relatively small amount of solvent and the time period for each extract was 6–12 h using 100 mL of n-hexane. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique was used, a specialized technique for detecting and analyzing the compounds of oil nature in each extract, where 20 compounds appeared in each variety. Notable components such as 39.27(46.84) in Castelbrite variety seeds, eucalyptol (29.27) in the Priani variety, 39.27(39.27) in the Showtime variety, and 11-octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (25.49) in the Pissardi were identified. The study found that at a concentration of 1, the mean mortality percentage for Priana was 20.0%, as the highest one. At a concentration of 2.5, the highest mean mortality percentages for the extract Pissardi were 26.7%. The mean mortality percentages increased at a concentration of 5, reaching 66.7% for Pissardi. The highest concentration tested was 10, resulting in a mean mortality percentage of 86.7% for Priana. These results confirm that n-hexane extracts derived from plum seeds can serve as a successful and effective alternative to synthetic pesticides used for pest control in storage facilities .