Attractancy toOryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) of volatile materials isolated from vacuum distillate of heat-treated carobs.

Vacuum distillation of heat-treated carobs gave an aqueous, colorless, sweet-smelling distillate which was tested over a wide range of concentrations and found to be highly attractive to adultOryzaephilus surinamensis (L.). The materials responsible for the aroma were isolated from the distillate by saturating with sodium chloride and extracting into diethyl ether as separate acidic, neutral, and basic fractions. The extraction efficiency was checked by recombining portions of the three fractions and replacing the diethyl ether with water to give a "reconstituted distillate;" this was almost as attractive as the original distillate. Bioassay of aqueous solutions of the three separate fractions showed that the acidic was attractive, while the neutral and basic had little effect. The five major components of the acidic fraction were found to be acetic, isobutyric,n-butyric, 2-methylbutyric, and hexanoic (caproic) acids. Bioassay of these in aqueous solution, both separately and combined, showed that hexanoic acid was the most attractive and may be responsible for both the longer-lasting attractive effect of the carob distillate and for the effectiveness of carobs themselves used in bait bags to detect stored product insects.