Insecticidal activity of nanoemulsion of Piper aduncum extract against cabbage head cartepillar Crocidolomia pavonana F. (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Abstract

Botanical insecticide nanoemulsion formulation is an insecticide with spontaneous emulsion system. Nanoemulsion formulation is an oil phase-in-water dispersion stabilized by a surfactant molecule which has size ranging from 50 nm to 500 nm. The oil phase consists of Piper aduncum extracts and bioethanol, while the water phase consists of aqudest and emulsifiers. The experiment was conducted in Insect Bioecology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Andalas Padang from October 2018 to March 2019. The purpose of this research was to obtain nanoemulsion from P. aduncum extract and to observe the activity of P. aduncum nanoemulsion against C. pavonana. Nanoemulsion formulation was prepared using spontaneous emulsification method then followed by toxicity test against C. pavonana larvae. Nanoemulsion formulations with high insecticidal activity were analyzed using Zetasizer Nano (ZS) Malvern for particle size and zeta potential. The results showed that particle size of AT.1 and BA.1 nanoemulsions were 141.1 nm and 172.5 nm respectively, and they were categorized as nano particles. AT.1 and BA.1 nanoemulsions caused mortality of C. pavonana larvae with LC95 value were 0.85% and 0.76%, respectively. Besides the toxic effect, the AT.1 and BA.1 nanoemulsions were also interfered growth and development of C. pavonana larvae.