Ms Catherine Jimenez from the Laboratorio do Biotechnologia, Universidad de Costa Rica is working in collaboration with a company to produce a novel ant bait for use against a major agricultural pest.
The requirements for the study was to have available a laboratory extruder that would be able to produce extrudate not only of different diameters but also of different densities.
Using a potential formulation with the Variable Density Extruder (VDE), Catherine was able to run trials that produced appropriate baits for the ants that will now be tested in the field in Costa Rica.
Fortunately the trials went so well that time was available for a short visit to a cold and windy Stonehenge (that is nearby to Caleva).
At the end of the visit Catherine told us that she was particularly impressed how well Caleva's VDE created the extrudate for her trials.
Catherine commented "In my short visit to Caleva's facilities, I learned about, and enjoyed, the world of extrusion. I now better understand the effect and importance of technical involvements when a bio-formulation is developed."
View Caleva's Variable Density Extruder to find out more.