COMPOSICIóN QUíMICA Y ACTIVIDAD PLAGUICIDA DEL ACEITE ESENCIAL DE Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav) S.T. Blake

essential oils stand out as rapidly developing products and many applications in agriculture. melaleuca quinquenervia (cav) s.t. blake, essential oil producer specie of the myrtaceae family, has medicinal and insecticide properties, but its possibilities to be used in the control of pests in different crops are very important and must be further investigated. the aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of m. quinquenervia essential oil and its acaricide and antimicrobial activity against agricultural pests. the essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation using a clevenger type-apparatus and the yield was determined. the chemical composition was investigated by gc/ms. biological tests were conducted against fungi, bacteria and mites. the essential oil of m quinquenervia (yield: 2,97% (v / p)) is mainly composed of longifolene (32,95 %), 1.8-cineole (25,43 %), viridiflorol (7,76 %) and allo-aromadendrene (9,50 %). the essence has a promising antifungal effect against alternaria solani sor. and fusarium sp.. the susceptibility of isolates of the latter plant pathogen showed differences with the greatest inhibition produced by f2. xanthomonas albilineans (ashby) dawson was the most sensitive bacteria to the action of the oil, compared with clavibacter michiganesis subsp. michiganesis (smith) davis et al showed only a slight activity at the highest dose tested. the antibacterial effect against x. albilineans was superior to that produced by the control antibiotic. the essential oil was highly toxic to mite causing 100% of mortality against females of tetranychus urticae koch, panonychus citri (mcgregor) and raoiella indica hirst, and 88,73 % on tetranychus tumidus banks. the essential oil of melaleuca quinquenervia has potential for the development of new antimicrobials and acaricides to control pests in vegetables, citrus and sugar cane.