Efficiency of nanoencapsulated essential oil of Artemisia sieberi Besser on nutritional indices of Plutella xylostella

Controlled release by nanoencapsulated formulations allow the essential oil to be used more effectively over a given time interval, suitability to mode of application and minimization of environmental damage. In this work, efficiency of nanoencapsulated essential oil of Artemisia sieberi Besser was tested on nutritional indices of Plutella xylostella L. Several experiments were designed to measure the indices such as Relative Growth Rate (RGR), Relative Consumption Rate (RCR), Efficiency of Conversion of Ingested food (ECI), Efficiency of Conversion of Digested food (ECD), Approximate Digestibility (AD) and Feeding Deterrent Index (FDI). Treatments were evaluated by the method of leaf disk bioassay at 25 °C, 65±5% RH, and a photoperiod of 16:8 h (Light: Dark). Ten third-instar larvae were introduced into each treatment containing different concentrations of the essential oil. Then, ingested food and weight gained were measured after 24, 48 and 72 h intervals. Results showed that nanocapsule of A. sieberi oil was highly effective compared to control (A. sieberi oil), and significantly decreased the RGR ECI, ECD and AD. Moreover, findings indicated a post-ingestive toxicity of the essential oil using the nanoencapsulated formulation. As a result, this nanoencapsulated essential oil tested merits further study as potential insecticide for the control of P. xylostella.