IMPACT OF LEPIDIUMS ATIVUM NANO-FORMULATION ON SOME BIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ACTIVITIES OF SCHISTOCERCA GREGARIA (ORTHOPTERA: ACRIDIDAE)

The effect of nano emulsions, of Garden Cress seed oil Lepidium sativum and its bulk form have been studied against some biological and biochemical aspects of 5th instar nymph of Schistocerca gregaria. Topical application of both nano and crude formulations of L. sativum in concentrations of 5 and 10% showed significant elongation of nymphal duration period. Mortality percentages increased as well as nymphal malformations and their unsuccessful molting when compared with control nymphs. Enzymatic activities seemed to be affected by both formulations. Butyryl cholinesterase activity increased significantly as a result of treatments after three days post treatment. Alkaline phosphatase activity increased significantly after 48 hours then decreased after 72 hours when compared with control nymphes. Total protein seemed to be not affected by treatments. Results proved that the topical application of L. sativum nano-formulation and its bulk form on the 5thnymphal instar of S. gregaria was novel and promised. The results should be taken into consideration for future research.

Intrinsic Viscosity and Molecular Parameters of Wheat Starch-Cess Seed Gum-Sucrose Mixture

This study aimed to determine the effect of different substitution levels of cress seed gum (CSG, 0-15%) and sucrose (SUC, 0-10%) on the dilute solution properties of native wheat starch (NWS) in terms of intrinsic viscosity, Huggins constant, power-law model slope, berry number, master curve slope, critical concentration, shape factor, and swollen specific volume. In the presence of CSG, the intrinsic viscosity of NWS increased from 0.686 to 0.760 dl/g, the molecular conformation changed from random coil to rod-like, the specific swollen volume enhanced from 0.27 to 0.32 dl/g and the shape factor altered from spherical to prolate. In contrast, sucrose reduced the intrinsic viscosity of NWS to 0.379 dl/g and the specific swollen volume to 0.15 dl/g, altered the conformation to a more random coil and the shape factor to a more compact sphere. In the ternary system, the parameters were close to those of the starch-gum mixture. It can be concluded that CSG overcame the weakening effect of SUC on the NWS solution properties in the ternary system.