Variability Influence of the Volatile Compounds of Three Algerian Date Cultivars (Phoenix dactylifera L.) on Infestation Rates of the Date Moth [(Ectomyelois ceratoniae Zell. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)]

Abstract

The date moth Ectomyelois ceratoniae Zeller (Lepidoptera; Pyralidae) is a serious pest for the dates production in Algerian oasis. Its dangerousness resides in its wide geographic distribution on various bioclimatics stages and his polyphagia on various hosts. In this context, to find out the impact of the dates volatile compounds on the date moth oviposition behavior. To do this, we conducted the following study, which is divided into two parts, one in the field and the other in the laboratory. This study investigated the effect of the biochemical profiles of three Algerian date cultivars (Deglet-Nour, Ghars and Degla-Beidha) on the infestation rates of the date moth. The monitoring infection rates in the field produced the following results: during the campaigns from 2011/2012 to 2014/2015 at the INRAA Sidi Mahdi-Touggourt station (Algeria), revealed that the cultivar Deglet-Nour is the most affected with a rate of 18.84%, followed by Ghars with 10.28% then Degla-Beidha with 6.66%. As for the extracts analysis of the three date cultivars with hexane were identified and quantifie via coupling gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The analysis of the volatile compounds of the cultivars studied allowed to identify 110 compounds distributed in eight chemical classes (hydrocarbons (saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons, unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons, unsaturated monocyclic hydrocarbons, saturated monocyclic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, terpene hydrocarbons), alcohols, aldehydes, esters, ketones, amides, phenols and carboxylic acids), whose compounds are distributed as follows: 72 compounds for the Deglet-Nour, 38 compounds for the cultivar Ghars and 29 compounds for Degla-Beidha.