2. Academic Validation
  3. Use of costic acid, a natural extract from Dittrichia viscosa, for the control of Varroa destructor, a parasite of the European honey bee

Use of costic acid, a natural extract from Dittrichia viscosa, for the control of Varroa destructor, a parasite of the European honey bee

  • Beilstein J Org Chem. 2017 May 18:13:952-959. doi: 10.3762/bjoc.13.96.
Kalliopi Sofou 1,  Demosthenis Isaakidis 1,  Apostolos Spyros 1,  Anita Büttner 2 3,  Athanassios Giannis 2,  Haralambos E Katerinopoulos 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Voutes, Heraklion, 71003, Crete, Greece.
  • 2 Institut für Organische Chemie, Universität Leipzig, Johannisallee 29, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
  • 3 recent address: Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, TU Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany.
PMID: 28684976 DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.13.96
Abstract

Costic acid has been isolated from the plant Dittrichia viscosa and its efficacy against Varroa destructor, a Parasite of Apis mellifera, the European honey bee, has been studied. Costic acid exhibited potent in vivo acaricidal activity against the Parasite. Initial experiments showed that the compound is not toxic for human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) at concentrations of up to 230 micromolar (μM), indicating that costic acid could be used as a safe, low-cost and efficient agent for controlling varroosis in honey bee colonies.

Keywords

Apis mellifera; Dittrichia viscosa; Varroa destructor; natural products; varroosis.

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