Behaviour desorption study of the essential oil of Cedrus atlantica in a porous clay versus insecticidal activity against Sitophilus granarius: explanation of the phenomenon by statistical studies

Abstract

Substances of natural origin and more particularly essential oils currently represent an alternative solution in the fight for the protection of stored foodstuffs. The way to use these essential oils and the storage conditions remain the main handicap in dealing with this subject. This article develops the use of porous supports as a medium for the study of the behavior of essential oils with respect to insecticidal activities. The process relates to the fixing and/or grafting of essential oils in porous clay media in a well-defined geometric form included in the storage methods. The study of transfers of the essential oil of Cedrus atlantica in a porous clay medium in the case of desorption was made by analytical and numerical models of diffusion process, to know the behavior of the oil and to determine some physical parameters (diffusivity Dz, activation energy Ea, evaporation rate F and constant of evaporation K) which explain the mechanisms involved and to try to exploit them in parallel with the insecticidal activities against of Sitophilus granarius the main cereal pest by statistical approaches such as: design of experiments and principal component analysis.

Keywords

• clay
• essential oil
• behaviour desorption
• diffusion
• insecticidal activity