%0 Journal Article
%T Chemical Variability Is the Hidden Determinant of Botanical Insecticide Reproducibility, Environmental Safety, and Field-Level Performance
%A Fatima El Idrissi
%A Samira Bennani
%A George Wilson
%A Chloe Bennett
%J Entomology and Applied Science Letters
%@ 2349-2864
%D 2025
%V 12
%N 3
%R 10.51847/TbpTIWIXQs
%P 47-59
%X Botanical insecticides are increasingly investigated as alternatives or complements to conventional pest-management products, yet the biological material described by a plant name rarely represents a chemically stable or operationally uniform intervention. Genetic provenance, chemotype, cultivation environment, harvest timing, post-harvest handling, extraction, analytical methods, formulation, storage, application, and environmental exposure can each alter the composition and performance of the tested product. This article develops an original, evidence-grounded, and explicitly non-validated standardization approach for managing this variability across botanical-insecticide development. It integrates plant-source qualification, chemotype and harvest control, processing and extraction specifications, assay-linked chemical characterization, formulation stability, environmental exposure, biological performance, and safety assessment. The central synthesis is that variability should be treated as a propagated product property rather than as experimental noise addressed only after efficacy testing. Botanical species identity cannot establish chemical equivalence; a reported analytical profile cannot establish batch standardization; repeatable laboratory activity cannot establish field performance; and natural origin cannot establish predictable exposure or environmental safety. The available evidence nevertheless remains heterogeneous across botanical materials, target organisms, extraction systems, formulations, endpoints, and environmental contexts. Associations between chemical markers and bioactivity are frequently context-dependent, while replicated batch series, interlaboratory comparisons, realistic exposure studies, and chemically qualified field evaluations remain limited. Product development should therefore move from identity-based candidate descriptions toward traceable evidence chains connecting source, process, chemical composition, formulation state, delivered exposure, efficacy, crop compatibility, and non-target effects. Such a structure can guide prospective validation and decision making, but its components and acceptance criteria must be established separately for each defined product class, intended use, target, formulation, and exposure scenario.
%U https://easletters.com/article/chemical-variability-is-the-hidden-determinant-of-botanical-insecticide-reproducibility-environment-gsqu6xc3wubyuzx