Journal article
Erythritol, a non-nutritive sugar alcohol sweetener and the main component of truvia®, is a palatable ingested insecticide
PloS one, v 9(6), pp e98949-e98949
2014
PMID: 24896294
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Insecticides have a variety of commercial applications including urban pest control, agricultural use to increase crop yields, and prevention of proliferation of insect-borne diseases. Many pesticides in current use are synthetic molecules such as organochlorine and organophosphate compounds. Some synthetic insecticides suffer drawbacks including high production costs, concern over environmental sustainability, harmful effects on human health, targeting non-intended insect species, and the evolution of resistance among insect populations. Thus, there is a large worldwide need and demand for environmentally safe and effective insecticides. Here we show that Erythritol, a non-nutritive sugar alcohol, was toxic to the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Ingested erythritol decreased fruit fly longevity in a dose-dependent manner, and erythritol was ingested by flies that had free access to control (sucrose) foods in choice and CAFE studies. Erythritol was US FDA approved in 2001 and is used as a food additive in the United States. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that erythritol may be used as a novel, environmentally sustainable and human safe approach for insect pest control.
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Details
- Title
- Erythritol, a non-nutritive sugar alcohol sweetener and the main component of truvia®, is a palatable ingested insecticide
- Creators
- Kaitlin M Baudier - Department of Biology Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of AmericaSimon D Kaschock-Marenda - Department of Biology Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of AmericaNirali Patel - Department of Biology Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of AmericaKatherine L Diangelus - Department of Biology Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of AmericaSean O'Donnell - Department of Biology Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of AmericaDaniel R Marenda - Department of Biology Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Publication Details
- PloS one, v 9(6), pp e98949-e98949
- Publisher
- Public LIbrary of Science (PLOS); United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); Biology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000338430700099
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84902477434
- Other Identifier
- 991014877984904721
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