ENCAPSULATION OF ESSENTIAL OIL MONOTERPENES ARE EFFECTIVE AGAINST HUMAN HEAD LICE

ORTEGA F; A. C. TOLOZA; RUBIO R; GUZMAN E; LUCIA A

Conferencia; International Conference on Phthiraptera 6; 2018

Essential oil components (EOCs) aremolecules with interesting application in pest control, but their practical useis rather limited yet. Thus, the enhancement of their bioavailability andmanageability due to their dispersion in water can open new perspective for thepreparation of novel formulations. In this work we studied the encapsulation ofdifferent monoterpenes in a poloxamer shell in order to prepare aqueousformulations that can be used for the development of platforms in the controlof head lice. The poloxamers allowed the dispersion ofEOCs in water due to their encapsulation inside the hydrophobic core of thecopolymer micelles. From this study, we concluded that it is possible to makestable micellar systems containing water (>90 wt%), 1.25 wt% of differentmonoterpenes and a highly safe polymer (5wt% Poloxamer 407). These formulationswere effective against head lice with mortality ranging from 30-60 %, being themost effective emulsions those containing linalool, 1,8-cineole, α-terpineol,thymol, eugenol, geraniol and nonyl alcohol which lead to mortalities above 70%.Since these systems showed goodpediculicidal activity and high physicochemical stability, they could be a newroute for the green fabrication of biocompatible and biosustainable insecticideformulations.