Erythritol, a Non-Nutritive Sugar Alcohol Sweetener and the Main Component of Truvia®, Is a Palatable Ingested Insecticide

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 6; p. e98949
• Main Authors: Baudier, Kaitlin M., Kaschock-Marenda, Simon D., Patel, Nirali, Diangelus, Katherine L., O'Donnell, Sean, Marenda, Daniel R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 04.06.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Access control; Agrochemicals; Alcohol; Alcohols; Alzheimer's disease; Animals; Biodiversity; Biological evolution; Biology; Biology and Life Sciences; Chemical pest control; Climbing; Crop yield; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila melanogaster - drug effects; Drosophila melanogaster - growth & development; Environmental effects; Environmental science; Environmental sustainability; Erythritol; Erythritol - pharmacology; Evolutionary biology; Female; Food; Food additives; Fruit flies (Tephritidae); Fruits; Health aspects; Human subjects; Humans; Industrial engineering; Insecticide resistance; Insecticides; Insecticides - pharmacology; Insects; Longevity - drug effects; Male; Manufacturing engineering; Mortality; Neurosciences; Nutrition research; Organic compounds; Organochlorine pesticides; Organophosphates; Pest control; Pesticides; Pests; Production costs; Restaurants; Sucrose; Sugar; Survival Rate; Sustainability; Sweetening Agents - pharmacology; Urban agriculture; Vasodilator Agents - pharmacology; United States > US; Bihar India; Pennsylvania; India
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098949

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.