A microcapsule oil dispersion for the controlled release of 1-methylcyclopropene in an open environment

1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is an important gaseous plant growth regulator. For its application as a gaseous pesticide, the plants with 1-MCP α-cyclodextrin microcapsule granules need to be enclosed in a sealed chamber. To provide a new spray formulation of 1-MCP for open environment application, herein, a novel 1-MCP microcapsule oil dispersion (1-MCP/MCOD) was prepared and characterized. It was found that 1-MCP could stay at higher concentrations for more than 36 hours during the controlled release experiment, and the SEM experiment showed good deposition of the 1-MCP/MCOD spray solution. In addition, the apple harvest application experiments showed that 1-MCP/MCOD could effectively prevent fruit drop at 3 μL L(−1) in an open environment. These results not only supply a new 1-MCP/MCOD kind of formulation for the flexible application of the 1-MCP gas in an open environment, but also show that this microcapsule oil dispersion formulation has significant potential in gaseous pesticide applications.