48 CIENCIAS Effectiveness of Plectranthus amboinicus at the foliar level versus systemic level against Leucoptera cofeella The coffee industry in Puerto Rico was a large part of the economy, however it faces different diseases including Leucoptera coffella (LC). LC life cycle includes the following stages such as butterfly, eggs, larvae, and crypts. Non published data in our group from a questionnaire given to farmers in the center of the island showed that the problem on their farm is a brown leaf mine and that in the center of Puerto Rico, 62% of the coffee farms face problems with LC. In addition, the farmer used chemical control, which is very toxic for the farmer and for the beneficial fauna. In fact, medicine plants have been used in the past as a biological control such as Plectranthus amboinicus or know in Puerto Rico as an “Oregano Brujo” (OB). In vitro studies show the use of OB extract eliminate larvae from the Aedes aegypti. However, it is unknown if OB extract can be a good biological control. The Hypothesis is “Oregano Brujo” is a good candidate to decrease the Leucoptera coffella. OB extract was made using lyophilization method and liquid chromatography was used to see the higher component of the OB with is carvacrol at 10%. The results show that the OB extract showed a decreased larvae survival percent after 12 hrs (p<0.05). This data show that OB can be a potential biological control. marta i. cruz rolando molina sariangely ortiz maestría en ciencias con especialidad en biotecnología carlos ramos centro de enseñanza e investigación en biotecnología y agrobiotecnología mentor: dra. gladys s. chompre dra. hna. nancy arroyo leucoptera coffella oregano carvacrol
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