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Abstract
Post-harvest pest control can rely on few approved pesticides and tools; hence, there is a rising interest in new sustainable, eco-friendly approaches. In this study, eight commercial essential oils (EOs) (anise Pimpinella anisum, artemisia Artemisia vulgaris, fennel Foenicum vulgare, garlic Allium sativum, lavender Lavandula angustifolia, mint Mentha piperita, rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis, and sage Salvia officinalis) were selected for their bioactivity and commercial availability, and then formulated in nano-emulsions. Repellency and acute toxicity of the developed nano-formulations were tested against a key stored product pest, Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). All the developed nano-emulsions presented optimal physical characteristics (droplet dimension = 95.01–144.30 nm; PDI = 0.146–0.248). All the formulations were repellent over time tested against adult beetles, in area preference bioassays. The best repellent was the anise EO-based formulation (RC50 = 0.033 mg). Mortality values from cold aerosol trials showed that the majority of tested EOs caused immediate acute toxicity, and garlic EO nano-emulsion caused the highest mortality of T. confusum adults (LC50 = 0.486 mg/L of air). EO-based nano-insecticides, used as cold aerosol and gel, are promising control methods against stored product pests, which can be integrated and combined with other sustainable biorational approaches.
Highlights
IntroductionFood industry relies on limited effective control tools and authorized pesticides for stored pest control, increasing the interest of the scientific community to investigate and propose eco-friendly formulations and novel application techniques [1]
Lavender (87.88%), mint (80.65%), rosemary (68.52%), and sage (58.64%) essential oils (EOs) were predominantly composed by oxygenated monoterpenes
Several recent studies demonstrated that the droplet size of nano-emulsions is reduced when the oil:surfactant ratio decreases and that a large amount of surfactant could ensure small dimensions [42,43], the use of high amounts of surfactants could cause a negative effect on plants and food when nano-formulations are used as pesticides [44,45]
Summary
Food industry relies on limited effective control tools and authorized pesticides for stored pest control, increasing the interest of the scientific community to investigate and propose eco-friendly formulations and novel application techniques [1]. Apart from the frequent insurgence of resistance in some pests and the consequent decrease of pesticide efficacy, synthetic insecticides can accumulate and contaminate the water, soil, and air, contaminating the whole food chain, including humans [3,4]. A decline and decrease of ecological diversity, including beneficial and non-target organisms and insects, such as pollinators, predators, and pest parasitoids, may be linked to the inappropriate and large application of synthetic pesticides [5]
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