Journal Article

Nontoxic effects of thymol, carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, and garlic oil on dung beetles: A potential alternative to ecotoxic anthelmintics

Universidad de Alicante. Centro Iberoamericano de la Biodiversidad, Sánchez-Piñero, Francisco, Cortez, Vieyle, Verdú, José R, Biodiversidad y Biotecnología aplicadas a la Biología de la Conservación, Ortiz, Antonio J, García-Prieto, Urcesino, García Romero, Carmelo, Lumaret, Jean-Pierre, Rosa-García, Rocío, Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales

2023

Overview

The sustainability of the traditional extensive livestock sector will only be possible if healthy dung-decomposing insect communities are preserved. However, many current pharmaceutical anthelmintics are harmful to dung beetles, their presence can have a negative impact on biological systems. Phytochemical anthelmintics are an alternative to ecotoxic synthetic pharmaceutical anthelmintics, although ecotoxicological tests of their possible indirect effects on dung beetles are required to demonstrate their viability. In this study, the potential ecotoxicity of thymol, carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and garlic oil (diallyl disulfide and diallyl trisulfide) were tested for the first time. Inhibition of antennal response was measured as a relevant parameter by obtaining relevant toxicity thresholds derived from concentration‒response curves, such as the IC50. All phytochemical compounds tested were demonstrated to be suitable alternative candidates to the highly ecotoxic compound ivermectin, considering their non-toxicity to nontarget organisms. Residues of the phytochemical antiparasitics found in cattle droppings were extremely low, even undetectable in the case of diallyl disulfide and diallyl trisulfide. Furthermore, our results showed that none of the phytochemical compounds have ecotoxic effects, even at extremely high concentrations, including those almost 1000 times higher than what is most likely to be found in dung susceptible to ingestion by dung beetles in the field. We can conclude that the four selected phytochemical compounds meet the requirements to be considered reliable alternatives to ecotoxic veterinary medicinal products, such as ivermectin.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS),Public Library of Science
• Subject: 20th century / Aldehydes / Animals / Anthelmintic agents / Anthelmintics - toxicity / Antiparasitic agents / Beef cattle / Beetles / Biodiversity / Biology and Life Sciences / Carvacrol / Cattle / Cinnamaldehyde / Coleoptera / Coleoptera - drug effects / Diallyl disulfide / Diallyl trisulfide / Diet / Dung / Dung beetles / Ecology and Environmental Sciences / Emission standards / Garlic / Health aspects / Ingestion / Insects / Ivermectin / Ivermectin - toxicity / Livestock / Medicine and Health Sciences / Nontarget organisms / Organic chemicals / Parasites / Pharmaceuticals / Phenols / Physical Sciences / Phytochemicals / Phytochemicals - toxicity / Sustainable development / Thymol / Thymol - toxicity / Toxicity