Study on Soluble Concentrate Formulation and Quality Control Techniques of a Microbial Insecticide "Bt-Plus"

Abstract

A microbial insecticide "Bt-Plus" has been developed to enhance an insecticidal efficacy of an entomopathogenic bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). However, its wettable powder formulation is not preferred by farmers and industry producers due to relatively high cost. This study aimed to develop a soluble concentrate formulation of Bt-Plus. To this end, an optimal mixture ratio of two bacterial culture broths was determined to be 5:4 (v/v) of Bt and Xenorhabdus nematophila (Xn) along with 10% ethanol preservative. In addition, Bt broth was concentrated by 10 times to apply the mixture at 1,000 times fold dilution. The resulting liquid formulation was sprayed on cabbage crop field infested by late instar larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. The field assay showed about 77% control efficacy at 7 days after treatment, which was comparable to those of current commercial biopesticides targeting P. xylostella. For storage test in both low and room temperatures, the liquid formation showed a relatively stable control efficacy at least for a month. To develop a quality control technique to exhibit a stable control efficacy of Bt-Plus, Bt spore density (5 × 10 11 spores/mL) and eight active component concentrations of Xn bacterial metabolites in the formulation products have been proposed in this study.