Environmentally Friendly Microemulsions of Essential Oils of <i>Artemisia annua</i> and <i>Salvia fruticosa</i> to Protect Crops against <i>Fusarium verticillioides</i>
Lucia Grifoni,
Cristiana Sacco,
Rosa Donato,
Spyros Tziakas,
Ekaterina-Michaela Tomou,
Helen Skaltsa,
Giulia Vanti,
Maria Camilla Bergonzi,
Anna Rita Bilia
Affiliations
Lucia Grifoni
Department of Chemistry Ugo Schiff, University of Florence, via Ugo Schiff 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Florence, Italy
Cristiana Sacco
Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Viale G.B. Morgagni, 50134 Florence, Italy
Rosa Donato
Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Viale G.B. Morgagni, 50134 Florence, Italy
Spyros Tziakas
Section of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Ekaterina-Michaela Tomou
Section of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Helen Skaltsa
Section of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Giulia Vanti
Department of Chemistry Ugo Schiff, University of Florence, via Ugo Schiff 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Florence, Italy
Maria Camilla Bergonzi
Department of Chemistry Ugo Schiff, University of Florence, via Ugo Schiff 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Florence, Italy
Anna Rita Bilia
Department of Chemistry Ugo Schiff, University of Florence, via Ugo Schiff 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Florence, Italy
Essential oils (EOs) are reported to be natural pesticides, but their use to protect crops is very limited due to EOs’ high instability and great volatility. Nanovectors represent a very smart alternative, and in this study, EOs from Artemisia annua (AEO) and Salvia fruticosa (SEO) were formulated into microemulsions and tested against Fusarium verticillioides. The EOs were extracted by steam distillation and analyzed by GC–MS. The main constituents of AEO were camphor, artemisia ketone, and 1,8-cineole; the main constituents of SEO were 1,8-cineole, camphor, α-pinene, and β-pinene. Artemisia ketone and 1,8-cineole were used to calculate the recovery and chemical stability of the microemulsions. The microemulsions were loaded with 10 mg/mL of EOs, and the recoveries were 99.8% and 99.6% for AEO and SEO, respectively. The sizes of the lipid phases were 255.3 ± 0.6 nm and 323.7 ± 2.3 nm for the AEO and SEO microemulsions, respectively. Activity against F. verticillioides was tested using amphotericin B as the positive control. F. verticillioides was very susceptible to both EOs. When loaded in the microemulsions, AEO and SEO remained very active at a dose of 1.4 and 1.2 mg, with a 99.99% reduction of F. verticillioides. The findings suggest AEO and SEO microemulsions are suitable carriers for the protection of crops against F. verticillioides.
