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The use of natural biopesticides, specifically essential oils, is being explored as an alternative solution to protect stored foodstuffs. This study focuses on a formulation of phosphogypsum–Pinus halepensis essential oil as a pesticidal product. First, the essential oil chemical composition was determined using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), while the phosphogypsum (waste from the phosphate mining industry) was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric–differential thermal analysis; thus, physico-chemical properties and heavy metal contents were determined. In a second step, the preparation of the formulation consists in grafting the essential oil on the phosphogypsum (adsorption) in a cylindrical geometric shape adapted to the models applied in the bioprocesses of storage. The study of essential oil transfers in the material in the case of desorption along the axis (Oz) was carried out using analytical and numerical models of the Fickian diffusion process to understand the behavior of the oil and determine physicochemical parameters such as diffusivity (D) and evaporation flux (F). By using statistical methods such as experimental design and principal component analysis, these parameters can help explain the mechanisms involved in the insecticidal activities against the primary pest of lentils (Bruchus signaticornis) and in the parameters of lentil seed germination.

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Within the scope of the exploitation of natural resources, an ethnobotanical and floristic study was carried out in the Central Middle Atlas to identify the medicinal plants used in traditional medicine and to collect as much information as possible about the local knowledge held by the local population. Ethnobotanical field surveys were conducted during two campaigns (2013 and 2014) using a questionnaire sheet. The location of the different ethnobotanical and floristic surveying environments was identified by the stratified sampling method. The survey was carried out among 1560 inhabitants randomly selected from the population of the study area with a sample of 40 persons per stratum. The results of these surveys have enabled us to draw up a catalog of 267 medicinal species divided into 211 genera and 79 families, among which: 6 are the most represented, including Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Apiaceae, Rosaceae, Fabaceae and Poaceae. Oregano (Origanum compactum Benth.) is the most used species. The elaborated catalog is characterized by the presence of endemic species of Morocco and also by the presence of rare or threatened taxa with a percentage of 6, 36 % of the listed species. The study contributes to improving knowledge about traditional medicine and safeguarding folk knowledge. but abusive gathering can put wild medicinal species at risk, many populations of local medicinal species suffer from overexploitation. Thus, it is necessary to provide legislative measures capable of protecting them and also to create specialized nurseries in order to curb the abuse of use and direct it towards a more rational and scientific use.