Phenolics as chemical barriers to female fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) in mango.
Abraham Verghese, Soumya C. B., Shivashankar S., Manivannan S., Krishnamurthy S. V.
Author Affiliation: Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake PO, Bangalore 560 089, India.
Current Science 103 : 563-566
Abstract : A study was conducted to know if phenolics play a defensive role in preventing herbivory of fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Tephritidae: Diptera) in mango. Results showed lower phenolics between 6.06 and 13.56 mg/g in peels of susceptible varieties (Banganapalli, Alphonso and Totapuri), whereas in resistant varieties (Langra, EC-95862) it was higher between 42.37 and 53.12 mg/g. The trend was the same for phenolics in pulp. In the susceptible varieties, the phenolic content was 0.60 mg/g and in resistant varieties, it was 2.33-2.36 mg/g. The results show that phenolics play a defensive role in preventing fruit fly herbivory in mango. Susceptible varieties under field conditions had infestation of 22-64%, whereas in resistant varieties no infestation was seen. It was shown earlier that phenolics have been responsible for plant defence against insect herbivory and the same has been found true in the present study. This may be a useful index in large-scale screening of mango germplasm for fruit fly resistance and to breed resistant commercial varieties of mango.