Optimization and Validation of HS-GC/MS Method for the Controlled Release Study of Microencapsulated Specific Bioattractants for Target-Plaguicide Production

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 26; no. 4; p. 996
• Main Authors: Alonso, María Luz, González, Oskar, Alonso, Rosa María
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 13.02.2021; MDPI AG
• Subjects: Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; controlled release; Delayed-Action Preparations; Drug Compounding; DSC; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry - methods; HS-GC/MS; microencapsulated products; Pesticides - chemistry; Pesticides - toxicity; Reproducibility of Results; volatile compounds; Volatile Organic Compounds - analysis; Water - chemistry; volatile compounds; controlled release; HS-GC/MS; DSC; microencapsulated products
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26040996

Insect plagues are a problem often hard to solve due to the harmful effects caused by the pesticides used to combat them. Consequently, the pesticide market is increasingly trying to develop new technologies to prevent the unwanted effects that common plague treatments usually bring with them. In this work, four specific bioattractants of , extracted from fungi (β-ocimene, phenol, p-cresol, and indole) were microencapsulated with β-cyclodextrin in order to produce an economically and environmentally sustainable bait containing biocides in the near future. Cyclodextrins will retain these volatile compounds until their use by the consumer when the product comes into contact with water. Then, the bioattractants will be released in the medium in a controlled manner. An analytical methodology based on headspace extraction coupled to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS) has been developed and validated following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and European Commission Directorate General for Health and Food Safety guidelines for the bioattractants controlled release study from the microencapsulated product. The analytical method has been shown to be accurate and precise and has the sensitivity required for controlled release studies of the four bioattractants analyzed. The release of the bioattractants from microencapsulated products achieved the "plateau" after 3 h in all cases.