Vol. 11, Special Issue 9 (2022)

Author(s):
Irengbam Barun Mangang, Karuna Ashok Appugol, Vidhya Lakshmi, R Meenatchi, V Eyarkai Nambi and Loganathan Manickam

Abstract:
Plant-based insecticides serve as an alternative safer approach to chemical insecticides. The applicability of nano-emulsion in post-harvest management of stored food commodities rises rapidly since its novel formulation improves the time of efficacy of plant-based insecticides. This study used thyme essential oil and neem oil as core materials to form nano-emulsions with whey protein isolate. The efficacy of formulated nano-emulsion was determined against Tribolium castaneum. During the filter paper assay, it was found that the repellent activity ranged from 73 to 90%. The mortality of T. castaneum adults was also observed with the nano-emulsion. Hence, a toxicity screening of individual oils was carried out, wherein, thyme essential oil was responsible for the cent percent mortality in 24 hours. Insect repellent Nettings (IRNs) were also fabricated by treating the nets with the developed nano-emulsion. The results showed ineffectiveness in repelling T. castaneum as the repellent activity was below 70% and the repellent action of IRNs reduced drastically after 24 hours of treatment. It was found that the size of T. castaneum adults was small enough to easily pass through the holes of IRNs. However, IRNs act as a primary barrier as their active components induced the mortality of the model insect studied.