| Summary: | Due to potential health and environmental risks of synthetic pesticides, coupled with their non-selectivity and pest resistance, there has been increasing demand for safer and biodegradable alternatives for insect pest management. Botanical pesticides have emerged as a promising alternative due to their non-persistence, high selectivity, and low mammalian toxicity. Six Meliaceae plant species, <i>Azadirachta indica, Azadirachta excelsa, Azadirachta siamens, Melia azedarach, Melia toosendan</i>, and <i>Melia volkensii, </i>have been subject to botanical pesticide evaluation<i>. </i>This review focuses on <i>Melia volkensii</i>, which has not been intensively studied. <i>M. volkensii, </i>a dryland tree species native to East Africa, has shown activity towards a broad range of insect orders, including dipterans, lepidopterans and coleopterans. Its extracts have been reported to have growth inhibiting and antifeedant properties against <i>Schistocerca gregaria, Trichoplusia ni</i>, <i>Pseudaletia unipuncta</i>, <i>Epilachna varivestis, Nezara viridula</i>, several<i> Spodoptera </i>species<i> </i>and other insect pests. Mortality in mosquitoes has also been reported. Several limonoids with a wide range of biological activities have been isolated from the plant, including volkensin, salannin, toosendanin, trichilin-class limonoids, volkendousin, kulactone among others. This paper presents a concise review of published information on the phytochemical composition and potential of <i>M. volkensii</i> for application in insect pest management.
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