Abstract:In order to resolve a series of ecological problem caused by abuse of chemical pesticides in urban greening, the composition of essential oils from Zanthoxylum piperitum leaves were analyzed, and their insecticidal and antibacterial effects were studied. The results showed that the optimum process of petroleum ether extraction for essential oils was 4 h, 50℃, with solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:5, and the highest yield was 0.5123%. Twenty five compounds dominated by hydrocarbons, alcohols and esters were identified, accounting for 99.96% of total peak area. Among them, the components with anthelmintic, insecticidal and antibacterial activity accounted for 88.50%, such as methyl cinnamate (87.83%), limonene (0.18%), menthol (0.11%), citronellal (0.10%), α-pinene (0.08%), α-caryophyllene (0.08%), terpineol (0.04%), caryophyllene (0.03%), hydroxygermacra-1(10),5-diene (0.03%) and β-phellandrene (0.02%), et al. The DPPH· scavenging rate treated by 20 mg mL-1 essential oils was 85.38% closed to the BHT positive control, but its reductibility was weaker than that of Vc, which might be associated with extraction process. Therefore, the essential oils of Z. piperitum leaves contained many kinds of bioactive substances, such as insecticide, insecticidal and antibacterial, it had development potential for nature plant pesticides.
