**3. Conclusion**

Intensive food production must be protected against pests and diseases, which is nowadays impossible with single and traditional techniques. However, a wide use of pesticides is still necessary, which may result in higher residues on food and food products than the allowed maximum residue level (MRL). The use of eco-friendly biopesticides based on essential oils (EOs), plant extracts (PE) and inert dusts appears to be a complementary or alternative method to chemically synthesized insecticides. The use of biopesticides may reduce the adverse effects of chemical pesticides on human health and environment. Biopesticides can exhibit toxic, repellent and antifeedant effects on different insect species. Investigations for developing a new bio-insecticide tackle the problem of food safety and residues in fresh food. Innovation within this approach is the combination of several types

of active ingredients with complementary effects. Essential oils are well-known for their insecticide or repellent activity. But so far their use in practice is limited due to their high volatility and short period of action. This problem could be solved by their encapsulation with natural coating materials. Regarding such formulation, their volatility should be prolonged, and EOs will have a chance to provide satisfactory efficacy against pests. New approaches, tools and products for ecologically improved pest management may substantially decrease pesticide use against pests, especially in the fruit and vegetable sector. A win-win strategy is to find an appropriate nature-based compound which will have a wide spectrum of impacts on pest populations. Toxic or repellent activity could be used to control their presence in the field conditions, combined with the use of attractants of some compounds for pest mass trapping, followed by pesticide use when unavoidable.
