Evaluation of Insecticidal Potential of Formulation Based on Essential Oils of Mentha Pulegium Against Fruit Fly Ceratitis Capitata

This work was undertaken as part of the search for alternatives to chemical pesticides for the control of the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata. The insecticidal activity using Mentha pulegium essential oils, free and encapsulated in a matrix based on brewer's yeast and gum Arabic was conducted. The extraction of essential oils was carried out by hydrodistillation using a clevenger-type hydrodistillator. The analysis method was made using the coupling of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC–MS) methods. Results showed that M. pulegium essential oil is essentially composed of Pulegone with a percentage of 52.70% followed by Menthone with a percentage of 30.78%. Encapsulation with M. pulegium essential oil showed that EE values were 37.7%, 21.64% and 32.71%, respectively, for the ratios 1.5:1.5:1; 1:2:1 and 0.5:2.5:1. Contact toxicity results showed that mortality rates varied depending on the duration of exposure. The preliminary results of this work revealed that brewer's yeast and mint essential oils could be valorized as tools for the control of Ceratitis capitata through the “Attract-and-Kill” technique: brewer's yeast as an attractant and essential oils as insecticidal agents.