Effectiveness of a novel insect-repellent food packaging incorporating essential oils against the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum)

Packaging represents a critical step in the food quality preservation and the ultimate defence against insect pests. Cereal-based foods may be infested by insects even during their packed life, i.e. during distribution, transportation and storage in warehouses or in retail stores. Many studies in the last years have concerned the development of active packaging with antioxidant and antimicrobial action, but very few studies have addressed insect-repellent packaging materials for foods. This work aimed at assessing the repellent efficacy of novel functional packaging materials containing three essential oils: citronella, oregano and rosemary. Repellent films were chemically characterized by MHS-SPME-GC-MS. The results obtained from area tests run in Petri dishes indicated that essential oils at concentrations higher than 0.005 μL/cm2 showed potential in terms of repellent activities against the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Assays performed with coated packages containing wheat semolina showed repellency results ranging from 53 to 87% for citronella and rosemary, respectively. Industrial Relevance: The paper deals with the study carried out of several Essential Oils as repellent for insects in packaged food. Rejection of packaged food caused by insect pests is a great problem that affects the industry worldwide. Without any doubt the prevention of insect attack from the packaging material without affecting the packaged product is an environmentally friendly and economical advantage. The industry is demanding this type of solutions.