engleski

Green volatile compunds in olive pest controlling

Olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae, Rossi) and olive moth (Prays oleae, Bern.) are the most economically important olive pests, causing yield losses in all olive-growing areas where they are detected. For years, the use of pesticides was the main method of controlling them, and their intensive use had negative effects on the environment. Therefore, the EU aims to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. For all these reasons, more effective non-pesticidal baits are needed for monitoring and/or control of B. oleae and P. oleae. Current knowledge indicates that several insect species are attracted to natural volatiles, including pheromones, host plants, yeasts, and bacterial volatiles. Since the interaction between olive trees and olive pests has not been adequately studied, the objective of this study was to identify olive tree volatiles that might be responsible for attracting B. oleae and P. oleae and to test them in olive orchards. During the study, about 70 different volatiles were identified from olive flower buds, 4-6 mm fruits and leaves, and 100 different volatiles were identified from olive fruits at three stages of ripeness (green, semi-ripe and ripe), mainly belonging to the groups of esters, saturated hydrocarbons, aldehydes, alcohols, terpenes and sesquiterpenes.These results are used to identify volatiles that could be responsible for olive moth attraction. Therefore, selected volatiles will be tested in delta traps in several olive orchards. Volatiles that could be responsible for olive fruit fly attraction will also be selected and tested on yellow sticky traps in other olive orchards. The results of our research could provide answers to many questions about the relationship between olives and pests. Finding volatiles that could be responsible for attracting harmful species could lead to the development and improvement of new attractants that could be a useful tool for monitoring and/or controlling B. oleae and P. oleae in the future.

green volatiles ; olive fruit fly ; pest control ; sustainable pest management

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