Discovering potential fumigants against Tribolium castaneum from essential oils using GC-MS and chemometric approaches

Tribolium castaneum is recognized as one of the most significant global pests affecting stored grains. Due to their general safety, essential oil (EO)-based biopesticides have garnered increasing interest worldwide. To provide a more rapid and objective method for the identification of individual components with potential fumigants from EOs, a GC-MS-based metabolomics strategy was applied in this study. Five EOs—Eucalyptus globulus, Dendranthema indicum, Cinnamomum cassia, Pinus massoniana, and Cinnamomum camphora—demonstrated remarkable toxicity, achieving corrected mortality rates exceeding 90% against Tribolium castaneum. A total of 41 potential fumigants were screened, with 21 of these identified potential fumigants corroborated by existing literature or preliminarily bioassay experiments. Key components included (−)-myrtenol, β-pinene, p-cymene, γ-terpinene, sabinene, β-myrcene, β-ocimene, and α-terpinene. These findings not only highlight promising EO-based fumigants against Tribolium castaneum but also provide lead compounds for future structural optimization. Additionally, this discovery strategy serves as a valuable reference for similar studies in natural products and biopesticides.