Cesar RODRIGUEZ-SAONA, John T. TRUMBLE, and Jocelyn G. MILLAR.
Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside CA 92521, U.S.A.
Recent work has shown that the oil produced in specialized oil cells (idioblast cells) in avocado fruit is toxic to larvae of a generailst herbivore, the beet armyworm (Soodoptera exigua) (Rodriguez-Saona and Trumble, 1996). The cells comprise about 2% of the tissue volume of the fruit, and a method of isolating the intact cells and extracting their oil has been reported (Platt and Thomson 1992). We report here the isolation by flash and high pressure liquid chromatography of two compounds with insecticidal activity from the oil. The more polar of the two compounds was identified as the known compound 1-acetoxy-2-hydroxy-4-oxoheneicosa-12,15-diene. The identification of the less polar compound is in progress. The toxicity and mode of action of the two compounds will be discussed.
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