Encapsulation, release and insecticidal activity of (L.) seed oil.

(L.) seed oil is effective for its insecticidal and larvicidal activities. However, its low aqueous solubility, high photosensitivity, and high volatility restrict its application for the control of agricultural pests. Encapsulation can be an effective technique to overcome such hindrances. Therefore, oil (PO) was extracted from its seeds and analyzed for content (3.18%) by GC-MS/MS as the marker compound. Micro-encapsulation (MC) of PO was prepared by interfacial polymerization between isocyanates and polyamine and tested for insecticidal and larvicidal activities. Bioassay of the developed formulations was tested against 2 instar larvae of (Bivoltine hybrid) and insecticidal bio-efficacy was tested against aubergine aphid ( G.) and whitefly ( G.). Various properties of micro-capsules stability, size, oil content and release kinetics were examined. Average diameter of capsules (1 μm) with Zeta potential (-16 mV) was indicated by the Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) instrument. Existence of PO in the microcapsules was confirmed by an optical microscopic study. Spectroscopic analysis revealed 87.4% of PO was encapsulated in polyurea shell. The shelf-life ( ), half-life ( ), and expiry-life ( ) of polyurea coated capsules were 11.4, 75.3 and 250.0 h, respectively. Polyurea coated PO capsule formulation showed evidence of toxicity against 2 instar larvae of ( 1.1%; = 5.9%). The PO formulation also exhibited 67.0-71.8% and 62.4-74.8% control of aphid and whitefly population in aubergine at 4.0% dose following 7-14 days after application. The study unveiled its significance in developing controlled release herbal formulations of as an alternative to harmful conventional synthetic insecticides for crop protection.