author(s)
Harshani HS and Karunaratne MMSC

abstract
Volatile chemical composition of the fruit peel of Citrus hystrix, its repellent activity and seed protectant ability against damage caused Callosobruchus maculatus were investigated. Repellent effect of the fruit peel was dose and time dependent, where maximum of 98% repellency was observed after only one hour of weevil exposure. C. hystrix fruit peel has the ability of significantly reducing both seed damage and weevil perforation index (31.01) and increasing percentage protectant ability (68.98) without affecting seed germination. Volatile fraction of C. hystrix fruit peel obtained from the HS-SPME medium polar fiber identified a total of 45 compounds. The major constituents were 3-Carene (18.310%), Citronellal (12.267%), D-limonene (11.538%), α-Pinene (9.244%), α-Cadinene (4.290%) and Copaene (4.290%), Linalool (4.020%), Caryophyllene (3.988%) and γ-Cadiene (3.544%), which accounted for about 71% of the total detected compounds. The results highly signify the strong seed protectant ability of C. hystrix fruit peel in controlling C. maculatus infestations.