Green Oil-in-Water Nanoemulsions for Delivery of Phytochemicals With Pesticidal Activity for Sustainable Food Production and Safety.
de Carvalho APA, Weitz DA, Conte-Junior CA
Biopesticides
The spray applied to your grocery store strawberries or backyard tomatoes could soon be made from lemongrass oil and food-grade emulsifiers rather than synthetic chemicals — and work just as well.
Scientists are learning to package natural plant oils — similar to the essential oils in your medicine cabinet — into microscopic water droplets that can be sprayed on crops to kill pests, fungi, and harmful bacteria. Making the oils into these tiny droplets helps them stay stable longer and penetrate plant surfaces more effectively than raw oil sprays. The approach is still mostly tested in labs and greenhouses, and researchers say bigger field trials are needed before it can widely replace conventional pesticides.
Key Findings
Green nanoemulsions consistently outperformed conventional formulations in pest control, targeting a broad range of threats including aphids, insects, fungi, bacteria, and weeds across food crop systems.
Efficacy varies considerably depending on formulation composition, target organism, and application conditions — field-scale validation remains limited and is identified as a critical research gap.
Important coverage gaps persist: plant viruses and nematodes are underrepresented as targets, and data on phytotoxicity and impacts on nontarget organisms (beneficial insects, soil microbes) are insufficient for regulatory confidence.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers reviewed how tiny, plant-oil-based droplets suspended in water can deliver natural pesticides to crops more effectively than conventional sprays. These green nanoemulsions show promise as safer, biodegradable alternatives to synthetic agrochemicals for protecting food crops from pests and disease.
Abstract Preview
Green oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsions incorporating essential oils (EOs) and food-derived compounds are gaining prominence as biopesticidal platforms that address the growing demand for sustainabl...
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