Encapsulation of Basil Essential Oil by Paste Method and Combined Application with Mechanical Trap for Oriental Fruit Fly Control

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Essential oils of the Ocimum spp. comprised of the volatile phenylpropanoids known for the Oriental fruit fly attractant property. However, fully exposing the essential oils in the field limited their ability. Therefore, we proposed a cheap yet effective paste encapsulation technique combined with a plastic trap for controlling tropical fruit fly in tropical fruit orchard. ABSTRACT: In this work, the chemical compositions of basils oils, including those of lemon basil, white holy basil, Thai basil, tree basil and red holy basil, were analysed. Methyl eugenol was detected in all types of basils. The essential oils of red and white holy basils possessed a comparable ability (~25%) to attract male Oriental fruit fly to the synthesised fruit fly attractant in the laboratory experiment. To control the release of the active ingredients, the white holly basil oil (WBO) was encapsulated with maltodextrin (MD) and gum arabic (GA) by paste method. The essential oil is retained in the wall complex much longer with the addition of MD. The results also revealed that the combination of the MD:GA (25:75) had the highest loading efficiency of the oil (9.40%) as observed by the numerous porous structures by scanning electron microscopy. Fourier-transform infrared spectra of the encapsulated polymer confirmed traces of essential oil functional groups. The field test study advised that WBO-encapsulated products improved fruit fly attractive efficiency by maintaining the release rate of basil essential oil.