On the last 5th, we received another guest researcher in our team, with the aim of starting new projects involving Biorational Pesticides. Ricardo Esteves, a PhD student of Plant Biotechnology and Bioprocesses Program at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), is visiting our laboratory in order to conduct part of his PhD studies here at UFV.
Ricardo Esteves is a pharmacist, graduated from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), where he was supervised by Professors Dr. Leandro Rocha and Professor Dra. Denise Feder. During his graduation, Ricardo worked with phytochemistry of extracts and essential oils from restinga plant species. Currently, Ricardo is pursuing his doctorate in Plant Biotechnology area, under the supervision of professors Dr. Leandro Rocha and Dra. Denise Feder (both of UFF), however, with the recent collaboration of the Prof. Dr. Eugênio de Oliveira as his co-advisor.
During his stay, Ricardo intends to explore the selectivity of plant compounds on non-target organisms, a line of research already under development in the laboratory. “All the knowledge I will acquire regarding insects themselves and their interactions with essential oils will be an important contribution to my training. In addition to the partnership for future projects involving other plant species and other formulations”, says Ricardo.
Ricardo has focused his research on the evaluation of the insecticidal activity of the essential oil (and its nanoemulsions) obtained from plant species of the Lauraceae family. All phytochemical and nanoemulsion production steps were carried out with his team in his Natural Products Technology Laboratory (LTPN), while selectivity assessments on non-target organisms will be carried out in partnership with the BraIN & Phy team. Ricardo attests that the applicability of these product will offer more possibilities to provide a more sustainable control of insect pests, integrating novel tools that can eventually replace the synthetic compounds. “Some tests will also be conducted to assess selectivity in aquatic organisms of a product that behaves as a surfactant, which, if promising, will be an advance in the use of essential oils with larvicidal and molluscicide activities”, says Ricardo.
First time at the Viçosa and UFV, Ricardo will take advantage of his stay to develop his research and also get to know the infrastructure of the laboratories and the charm of the marvelous Brazilian university.
The entire BraIN & Phy team welcomes you!
BraIN&Phy Lab 