Sousa Pedro A S, Neto Joana, Barbosa Joana V, Peres Joana, Magro Ana, Barros Graça, Sousa José M, Magalhães Fernão D, Mexia António, Aguiar Ana A R M, Bastos Margarida M S M
GreenUPorto-Sustainable Agrifood Production Research Centre/Inov4Agro, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua da Agrária 747, 4485-646 Vairão, Portugal.
LEPABE-Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
Insects. 2023 Apr 7;14(4):366. doi: 10.3390/insects14040366.
Maize grains represent a significant contribution for assuring food safety all over the globe. (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), also known as the maize weevil, is one of the most destructive pests in stored maize, causing qualitative and quantitative losses. To control populations in maize storage sites, synthetical chemical insecticides are applied. However, these are often used wastefully, have environmental implications, and can induce the development of resistant populations. In this work, the insecticidal and grain protecting efficacy of an innovative macro-capsule delivery device, loaded with essential oils from Clove bud and Pennyroyal, as well as their combined solutions, was tested against naturally -infested maize grains. The blend of both compounds incorporated in a controlled release device reduced losses by more than 45% over a long storage period of twenty weeks, diminishing the survivability of maize weevils by over 90%. The usage of the blend at a concentration of 370 μL⋅Lair-1 with an antioxidant showed the best results, however, by halving the concentration (185 μL⋅Lair-1), a significant control populations was still achieved.
玉米粒对确保全球粮食安全做出了重大贡献。玉米象（Motschulsky）（鞘翅目：象甲科），也被称为玉米象鼻虫，是储存玉米中最具破坏性的害虫之一，会造成质量和数量上的损失。为了控制玉米储存场所的害虫数量，人们使用合成化学杀虫剂。然而，这些杀虫剂往往被浪费使用，对环境有影响，并且会导致抗药种群的产生。在这项工作中，测试了一种创新的大胶囊递送装置对自然感染玉米颗粒的杀虫和保护谷物的功效，该装置装载有丁香花蕾和薄荷油的精油以及它们的混合溶液。两种化合物混合在控释装置中，在长达二十周的储存期内，损失减少了45%以上，玉米象鼻虫的存活率降低了90%以上。使用浓度为370 μL·L空气-1的混合物并添加抗氧化剂显示出最佳效果，然而，将浓度减半（185 μL·L空气-1）时，仍能有效控制害虫数量。
