Toxicity of naturally occurring Bio-fly and chitosan compounds to control the Mediterranean fruit fly <i>Ceratitis capitata</i> (Wiedemann)

<div><p>The efficacy of five compounds of a biopolymer chitosan and Bio-fly (<i>Beauveria bassiana</i> fungus) as biopesticide was evaluated on <i>Ceratitis capitata</i> under laboratory conditions. The inhibitory effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) as biochemical indicators were also determined <i>in vivo</i>. The results indicated that <i>B. bassiana</i> based Bio-fly exhibited significant toxicity against <i>C. capitata</i> (LC₅₀ = 3008 and 3126 mg/L after 48 h in females and males, respectively) followed by the derivatives of chitosan, <i>N-</i>(4-propylbenzyl)chitosan and <i>N-</i>(2-nitrobenzyl)chitosan. Bio-fly displayed remarkable inhibition of AChE activity (IC₅₀ = 2220 mg/L) while <i>N-</i>(<i>2-</i>chloro,<i>6-</i>flourobenzyl)chitosan, <i>N-</i>(<i>4</i>-propylbenzyl)chitosan and <i>N-</i>(3,4-methylenedioxybenzyl) chitosan had no significant difference in inhibitory action. In adult males, <i>N-</i>(<i>2-</i>nitrobenzyl)chitosan exhibited the highest inhibitory action (IC₅₀ = 6569 mg/L). In addition, the toxic effects of the tested compounds on the activity of ATPase indicated that highly significant inhibition was found with <i>N-</i>(4-propylbenzyl)chitosan with an IC₅₀ of 8194 and 8035 mg/L, in females and males, respectively.</p></div

Fundamentals and Applications of Chitosan

International audienceChitosan is a biopolymer obtained from chitin, one of the most abundant and renewable material on Earth. Chitin is a primary component of cell walls in fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans, e.g. crabs, lobsters and shrimps, and insects, the radulae of molluscs, cephalopod beaks, and the scales of fish and lissamphibians. The discovery of chitin in 1811 is attributed to Henri Braconnot while the history of chitosan dates back to 1859 with the work of Charles Rouget. The name of chitosan was, however, introduced in 1894 by Felix Hoppe-Seyler. Because of its particular macromolecular structure, biocompatibility, biode-gradability and other intrinsic functional properties, chitosan has attracted major scientific and industrial interests from the late 1970s. Chitosan and its derivatives have practical applications in food industry, agriculture, pharmacy, medicine, cos-metology, textile and paper industries, and chemistry. In the last two decades, chito-san has also received much attention in numerous other fields such as dentistry, ophthalmology, biomedicine and bio-imaging, hygiene and personal care, veterinary medicine, packaging industry, agrochemistry, aquaculture, functional textiles and cosmetotextiles, catalysis, chromatography, beverage industry, photography, wastewater treatment and sludge dewatering, and biotechnology. Nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals are actually growing markets, and therapeutic and biomedical products should be the next markets in the development of chitosan. Chitosan is also the N. Morin-Crini (*) · Laboratoire Chrono-environnement, UMR 6249, UFR Sciences et Techniques