Leaf surface extracts ofSolanum berthaultii hawkes deter colorado potato beetle feeding.

Abstract

Leaf rinses ofS. berthaultii PI 473334 with methylene chloride were deterrent to feeding by the Colorado potato beetle when applied toS. tuberosum tuber and leaf disks. When the leaf rinse was separated into its nonvolatile and volatile fractions and applied to tuber disks, the nonvolatile fraction was highly deterrent, while the volatile fraction reduced consumption, but not significantly compared to the controls. A hexane leaf rinse was not deterrent to feeding, while an acetone rinse was approximately twofold more deterrent than the methylene chloride rinse when applied to leaf disks. Three cycles of bioassay-guided, reversed-phase open-column fractionation of an acetone leaf rinse yielded a relatively polar fraction with low deterrent activity, and two nonpolar fractions exhibiting higher specific activity. Reversed-phase preparative HPLC of these fractions yielded seven active fractions among the 10 assayed. Subsequent analytical HPLC indicated that two fractions each contained a single UV-absorbing compound, while another represented a mixture of at least four compounds. The remaining fractions were composed of complex mixtures of possibly ionic or polymeric compounds that were poorly resolved by HPLC.