A SCOTTISH company is hoping to do its bit to help keep the world smelling nice. Bruce Alexander, of Xeroshield, based in Roslin, at the heart of the Edinburgh Science Triangle, has recently returned from Bulgaria, with a view to setting up an evaluation study of a new insecticidal product targeting a beetle larva that threatens the country’s rose crop. Bulgaria is responsible for around a third of the world’s production of high quality rose oil – an important component in perfume – which is worth over £3000 per kilo.

Bruce received joint funding from Scottish Development International (SDI) and the International Agro-Technology Centre (IATC) for the trip to Bulgaria. He was accompanied by Dr Chris Harris of Argentix, another company based at Roslin BioCentre, who has extensive experience in the country. Together, they visited “Intermed-One” – a rose oil-producing farm in Manolova, which is responsible for 17 percent of Bulgaria’s output. They learned from CEO Dr Dimiter Stefanov about the insect pest problems faced by the industry, which prides itself on restricting the use of conventional chemical insecticides.

It is hoped that the compound will offer an effective, environmentally friendly alternative for the control of the main insect pest – the stem borer Agrilus mokrzeckii, a small beetle larva that causes the rose stems to become swollen and brittle. Xeroshield is planning to seek EU funding to carry out an evaluation of this product with Intermed-One and the Agribio Institute in Sofia, together with the continued involvement of Argentix. The new product can also be used against potato aphids, which are responsible for significant losses to the crop in Scotland – and Bruce has also received a SPARK award for a preliminary evaluation of the new insecticidal product with Dr Brian Fenton, of the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Invergowrie.

In what has been a busy month for Xeroshield, Bruce also received confirmation that the company has been granted an EDTC grant to launch the development of a new technology against the mosquito vectors of dengue fever. This will be carried out with Dr Alan Edgar of Napier University, Xeroshield’s first research collaboration with a Scottish higher education institution. Bruce says: “This is a very exciting time for Xeroshield. We are involved with a number of different partners, who are all experts in their respective fields and this has further strengthened our research base, taking our company in new directions.”