The growing interest for a more sustainable agriculture renders the development of environmentally friendly strategies of pest control mandatory. Furfural and salicylaldehyde from the fruit of Melia azedarach, a plant spread in all warm countries, have been proved of high nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne spp but they might easily be leached and degraded in the soil. In this study, a possible innovative solution to limit the aldehyde depletion in soil was aimed through their encapsulation into environment-friendly microporous alumino-silicates (zeolites). The pore dimension and SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of commercially available zeolites were tuned in order to allow the adsorption and the gradual release of the host molecules, thus optimizing the lifetime under field conditions. The release of the encapsulated nematicides was tested in extracts of soils with different texture, pH, and organic matter content. These insights will help to produce the most effective, home-made formulates by contacting the selected zeolite directly with the water extracts of Melia fruit.
ECOSUSTAINABLE PEST CONTROL: ALDEHYDES OF KNOWN NEMATICIDAL ACTIVITY EMBEDDED IN POROUS MATRICES FOR A TUNED ACTION
MARTUCCI, Annalisa;
2014
Abstract
The growing interest for a more sustainable agriculture renders the development of environmentally friendly strategies of pest control mandatory. Furfural and salicylaldehyde from the fruit of Melia azedarach, a plant spread in all warm countries, have been proved of high nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne spp but they might easily be leached and degraded in the soil. In this study, a possible innovative solution to limit the aldehyde depletion in soil was aimed through their encapsulation into environment-friendly microporous alumino-silicates (zeolites). The pore dimension and SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of commercially available zeolites were tuned in order to allow the adsorption and the gradual release of the host molecules, thus optimizing the lifetime under field conditions. The release of the encapsulated nematicides was tested in extracts of soils with different texture, pH, and organic matter content. These insights will help to produce the most effective, home-made formulates by contacting the selected zeolite directly with the water extracts of Melia fruit.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
