Transcript ARS, Inc. - AMRQC Presentation

NOVEL DIET ENCAPSULATION / PACKAGING METHODS
Pat Greany, Ara Manukian, Bill Toreki & Rudy Strohschein
Analytical Research Systems, Inc., Gainesville, FL
Bill Toreki
Ara Manukian
Rudy Strohschein
Diet Packaging / Encapsulation
Requirements
• Presentation of artificial diets for insects, including parasitoids
and predators, must be made in a form that meets the
behavioral requirements of these organisms.
• Practical considerations require that the presentation approach
also is cost-effective, allowing rapid and convenient
encapsulation / packaging of the diet.
• Exposure of the diet to desiccation and deleterious
microorganisms must be minimized.
• Diet handling also should be convenient for introduction into
the insects’ environment & removal thereafter.
We have developed two systems to encapsulate or
package insect diets to meet these objectives:
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•A simple system for stretching, forming, filling and
sealing Parafilm or other elastic films
•A novel method for production of Hydrocapsules ® ,
individual, polymer-encapsulated diet ‘pills’ that can
be filled with a wide array of aqueous solutions,
suspensions or diets.
Hydrocapsules offer a completely new way to deliver
food and water (or control agents) to insects and they
allow unparalleled opportunities for incorporation of
kairomones and phagostimulants to increase
discovery, recognition and acceptance of these
capsules.
Part 1
Traditional film-based encapsulation system
• Parafilm
• Seal-View
• Dura-Seal
APPARATUS FOR FORMING WELLS
24 Well Plate with Vacuum
Control Regulator
40 Well Plate
•
PLATES WITH ALMOST ANY NUMBER, SIZE, SHAPE OF WELLS CAN
BE PRODUCED
•
ALL WELLS ARE FORMED SIMULTANEOUSLY AND RAPIDLY
•
FILM CAN BE PRE-STRETCHED PRIOR TO APPLICATION AND THEN
STRETCHED AGAIN BY VACUUM TO MINIMAL THICKNESS
•
‘POPPING’ IS AVOIDED BY CONTROL OF NEGATIVE PRESSURE AND
ASSURED STOPPING POINT AT POROUS PLATE AT BOTTOM OF
WELL
Podisus maculiventris
Diapetimorpha introita larvae
Geocoris punctipes
Adult w/ fall armyworm pupa
Part 2
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Hydrocapsule ®
Encapsulation
Technology Development
(Supported by USDA SBIR Program Grant)
The term “HYDROCAPSULE®”, is a U.S.
Registered Trademark (Reg. No.
2,468,415), solely owned by ARS, Inc. It is
defined as a discrete capsule(s) or
microcapsule(s), of any size, shape,
composition and color, which has a
polymeric outer coating (shell or
membrane) that surrounds any inner liquid
mixture having 10% to 100% water
content. The capsules are typically round,
but can be any shape, and range in size
from 100 microns to 2 centimeters in
diameter, and are typically between 2 to 3
millimeters.
The methods, materials, chemical
processes and machine hardware used to
produce HYDROCAPSULES® are U.S.
Patented (Ser. No. 09/780,046) and
International Patent-pending (PCT
Chapters 1 & 2 filed) and are solely owned
by ARS.
Coleomegilla maculata
Photo by Dr. Jim White, Entomos Inc.
Podisus maculiventris
nymph feeding on
Hydrocapsule contents
Orius insidiosus nymph
on “water pill”
Photos by Dr. Jeff Shapiro, USDA ARS
Other Advantages of Hydrocapsules:
• They can be used for aqueous or lipophilic contents (or
emulsions of the two)
• They can be easily frozen or sterilized using irradiation
(terminal sterilization)
• Attractants and phagostimulants can be incorporated
internally and/or externally due to polymeric encapsulant
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Hydrocapsules Also Can Be Used as a Delivery
System For:
•Biopesticides & Conventional Toxicants
•Pathogens
•Entomopathogenic nematodes
Steinernema sp.