Dheeraj Kumar a , Mahesh K. E-mail: abhaykumarpandey. The widespread application of synthetic pesticides for food preservation and crop protection is a significant concern for both environmental sustainability and public health. Past and recent studies conducted worldwide revealed that botanical pesticides based on essential oils EOs have been developed against pests and pathogens deteriorating food commodities under both storage and field conditions.
While EO-based botanical pesticides are less widely available, they offer considerable potential for managing pathogens and insects that affect food crops.
Lavandula species can potentially be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries as medicinal herbs. The genus is known for its abundance of EOs, which exhibit high variability in chemical constituents between species owing to various extrinsic geographical origin and intrinsic genetic variation factors.
Besides, studies on chemical analysis of LEOs originating from different countries and recommendations for their use as an alternative to synthetic pesticides in food protection are described. We also discussed the challenges in the use of LEOs and safety assessments so that they can be used as safe botanical pesticides in food systems. Lavandula angustifolia and L. Several reviews have been published on Lavandula essential oils LEOs. Additionally, this review also emphasized the biological activities of LEOs, including their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties with reference to human pathogens, rather than against pathogens deteriorating food commodities.
Another comprehensive review published by Malloggi et al. Their review highlighted the importance of EO's quality and administration methods, noting that different diffusion devices and EO compositions can influence outcomes. Besides, in , Heral et al. Besides, the chemical analysis of LEOs originating from different countries, challenges in using LEOs in food systems and safety assessments along with the scope of future research are also discussed.
