Abstract
From the methanol seed extract of Rollinia occidentalis five acetogenins were isolated, sylvaticin (1), rolliniastatin-1 (2), rolliniastatin-2 (3), motrilin (4) and desacetyluvaricin (5), and evaluated for their toxicity and nutritional alterations on Spodoptera frugiperda Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). All but one of the compounds produced more than 90% mortality on early larval instars at 50 and 100 μg per g of diet. Sylvaticin caused 15 and 60% mortality at 50 and 100 μg/g, respectively, while the methanol seed extract reached 35 and 50% at 100 and 250 μg/g, respectively. The addition of R. occidentalis methanolic seed extract (100 and 250 μg/g) and sylvaticin (100 μg/g) to the larval diet brought about significant changes to the nutritional indices in connection with larvae fed the control diet. This is the first report on the isolation of acetogenins from R. occidentalis and their insecticidal effects on S. frugiperda.