As promised, I am writing about my research project this time! The whole idea of developing a sustainable pesticide came from the terrible pesticide situation that we have here in my country, but also because toxic pesticides also really affects people in my community. I grew up in a small rural community on the border of Rio de Janeiro. Rio is well-known for its beautiful beaches and landscapes however, the agricultural community goes unnoticed. During my childhood, I heard a lot about how chemistry was helping agriculture with new pesticides. The farmers were amazed that a simple liquid could exterminate pests. Unfortunately, they did not understand the consequences of pesticides. As time went by, some farmers started to develop respiratory diseases, but no one knew what was causing it. Recently, they found out that it was because of the over use of the toxic pesticides. I realized that If I do not hurry to change this situation, my community and my country will soon start to have worse problems. 

 One of the strategies to reduce dependence on synthetic herbicides that I decided to work with was the use of plants with phytotoxic properties for weed control. Several plants and their metabolites have been observed to possess allelopathic and herbicidal properties against weeds. Some natural oils are very famous as herbicides, the majority of them are classified as Terpenes, a large and diverse class of organic compounds, produced by a variety of plants, some examples are Limonene and Carvone. This remarkable phytotoxic impact of monoterpenoids coupled with their biodegradable nature and low danger against mammals and other non-target species compounds make these compounds of interest and potential for the agricultural industry. I decided to search for other Terpenes that could have this property and also other utilities for the crop, and that was when I found Carvacrol.

 Carvacrol is a Terpene, and is really well-known for its antimicrobial properties. I imagined that if Carvacrol worked as an awesome pesticide, it would have 2 great utilities. To synthesize Carvacrol, I obtained Carvone through a synthetic route from Limonene( orange peels), and then I synthesized the Carvacrol. After that, I conducted biological experiments with and without temperature and humidity control, in different concentrations of water solutions of the synthesized product, in order to discover if the compound had any negative action on the germination of Bidens pilosa that is a very common weed in my community. Simultaneously tests were performed with Corn, Beans and Lentil seeds, while we studied parameters as percentage of germination, mitotic index, probability of germination and speed index. 

 The results of biological tests were better than expected, since all tested concentrations inhibited the germination of Bidens pilosa and at the same time, accelerated the germination in beans, lentils and corn. The speed rates corroborate this result. In conclusion, in my project I discovered a more ecofriendly chemical substance that simultaneously combats bacteria, fungi and weeds, and increases the production of the desirable crop. I did not find records of any substance with the same properties. The results made me and my team really excited and we are now working to develop a final product! 

 As I said previously, I do believe that my project can help the environment, but I still think that the future is Agroforestry.

I hope I made my project clear to you all! :D