Custard Apple Seed Oil as a Pesticide
Abstract
Essential oils are oils extracted from plants. These categories of oils are obtained through distillation or mechanical methods such as cold pressing. Custard AppleSeed Oil is a type of essential oil. This oilcan be used as an eco-friendly biopesticide. They are cheap, safe to use also maintains the fertility of the soil. Therefore natural pesticides like custard appleseed oil are given preference over synthetic pesticides. Oil extracted from it can be used as a pesticide against several common pests like the white mealybug, aphid, termite, etc. The oil extracted from custard apple seeds contain acetogenin a group of powerful respiratory inhibiting toxic components, which is responsible to act as a bio-pesticide. Cold pressing, solvent extraction, steam distillation, maceration, percolation, tincture, and infusion are the methods that are used for custard appleseed oil extraction.
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Introduction
Maharashtra is the leading state in custard apple production with 92,320 tons. The raw material required for the process; custard apple seeds are available in abundance. There are various methods of custard appleseed oil extraction. The selection of appropriate solvent for extraction is done by taking into account various factors like cost, oil extraction efficiency, solvent recoverability, and environmental impacts.
Conclusion
The various methods of oil extraction were compared and solvent extraction came forward as the best method of oil extraction. The entire process of extracting oil from custard apple seeds takes place in three and half hours including the time required for cleaning. N-hexane is the most preferred solvent for the extraction process as it is available for a price of Rs.45/liter and provides recovery of about 19%. The three conventional methods have alow yield but can be performed at home at a negligible cost. Oil at 0.75% concentration is ideal to keep pests away.
