Work

Towards sustainable vector control: Innovative substrate identification for developing eco-friendly, cost-effective, and highly potent biopesticides

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The unavailability of biological insecticides for mosquitoes’ control in Tunisia and their high cost make chemical pesticides the most used solution. In the present study, the development of a bio-sourced media based on agriculture by-product and free biological material was conducted for the generation of commercially valuable biopesticide from BUPM98 Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis strain. Through the physico-chemical characterization of the spineless Opuntia ficus-indica cladodes flour (SFI flour), an important total organic carbon rate (18.92 %) was detected. Thus, SFI flour was used as a potential carbon source for B. thuringiensis cells growth and delta-endotoxin production. A bio-sourced media based on diluted sea water, SFI flour and soybean meal, was optimized for BUPM98 delta-endotoxin production through the response surface methodology. The adjusted medium improved the production by 58 % compared to the reference medium. Moreover, an additional improvement of 22.85 % in delta-endotoxin synthesis was achieved through cultivating BUPM98 in 1 L shake flasks with baffles under optimal conditions. This enabled the biopesticides production in the novel medium (FPOM-SFI) to reach 2405.5 ± 45 mg/L. Interestingly, the FPOM-SFI(BUPM98) achieved a more than threefold activity than VectoBac®12AS. In fact, it revealed LC 50 values of 0.0039 mg/L and 0.0041 mg/L, against Aedes aegypti and Anophele gambiae larvae, respectively. These findings underscore the substantial potential of the BUPM98 based bio-pesticide produced in an almost bio-sourced medium for mosquito management in Tunisia as well as in North African countries, as an economical and eco-friendly alternative of chemical insecticides. FPOM-SFI(BUPM98) could be a sustainable and affordable pest control solution.

Source: Biological Control

DOI: 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2025.105768