[Ovicidal activity of nine essential oils against Chrysomya megacephara in bacon and kipper]

To exploit safe ovicides against the flies that attack bacon and kipper, the ovicidal activity of 9 plant essential oils was investigated by a modified egg-dipping method. The results indicated that the essential oils from Cinnamomun cassia, Eugenia caryophyllata and Illicum verum had higher ovicidal activity, with their LC50 values being 0.428, 1.605 and 2.489 mg x ml(-1), respectively. Through GC/MS analysis, a total of 22 components were identified from C. cassia oil, among which, cinamaldehyde was the most predominant one, accounting for 92.33% of the total. The LC50 of synthesized cinamaldehyde (97.33%) was 0.281 mg x ml(-1), being a little higher than the LC50 of C. cassia oil, suggesting that cinamaldehyde was the main ovicidal component of C. cassia oil and could replace the latter as an ovicide against harmful flies.