Cockroach Repellents Contained in Oils of Japanese Mint and Scotch Spearmint

Abstract

Five compounds with the olfactric repellency for German cockroach (Blattella germanica L.) and smoky brown cockroach (Periplaneta fuliginosa S.) were isolated from oils of Japanese mint (Mentha arvensis subsp. L. haplocalyx Briquet var. piperascens Holmes) and Scotch spearmint (Mentha spicata Hunds var. tenuis (Michx) Briq.). The compounds were identified as (−)-limonene, (−)-menthone, (−)-menthol, (−)-carvone and (+)−pulegone by retention time of GC, specific rotatory power, and IR, NMR and mass spectra. The activity of the (+)−enantiomers and racemic compounds was very low. Some correlations between repellency and functional groups of C1-methyl group, C4-isopropyl group, C4-isopropenyl group and C1-C2 or C1-C6 double bond were suggested. © 1982, Pesticide Science Society of Japan. All rights reserved.