Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.5
4.0
Journals
Plants
Special Issues
Application of Plant Extracts in Pest Control
share announcement

Application of Plant Extracts in Pest Control

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 2937

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yongjian Xie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou 311300, China
Interests: plant extracts; integrated pest management
Dr. Xiangrong Tian

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Economic Plant Resources Development and Utilization, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: bioactive natural products; pesticide; plant production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant extracts and essential oils (EOs) have gained recognition as environmentally friendly and effective solutions for pest management. These plant extracts and EOs offer advantages such as low toxicity, minimal residue, affordability, easily degradable, and high safety for human health. Most phytochemicals from herbs and woody plants are alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans, phenylpropanoids, quinoids, tannins, terpenoids, steroids, saponins, glycosides, or volatile oils responsible for their biological activities. The extraction of phytochemicals with insecticidal activity from plants is one of the important developments of natural product research.

This Special Issue aims to explore more plant essential oils and extracts with insecticidal activity to isolate and identify chemical substances with specific insecticidal activity, the development of effective pesticide formulations and non-target effect studies, as well as the latest progress in field applications. The mechanism of action of plant extracts will also be considered.

Dr. Yongjian Xie
Dr. Xiangrong Tian
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant extracts
  • phytochemistry
  • insecticidal activity
  • formulation development
  • mechanism of action
  • integrated pest management

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 720 KiB  
Article
Sequential Separation of Essential Oil Components during Hydrodistillation of Fresh Foliage from Azorean Cryptomeria japonica (Cupressaceae): Effects on Antibacterial, Antifungal, and Free Radical Scavenging Activities
by Filipe Arruda, Ana Lima, Tanner Wortham, Alexandre Janeiro, Tânia Rodrigues, José Baptista, José S. Rosa and Elisabete Lima
Plants 2024, 13(13), 1729; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13131729 - 22 Jun 2024
Viewed by 355
Abstract
Cryptomeria japonica wood industry generates large amounts of foliage biomass residues. Due to the increasing applications and markets for essential oils (EOs), fresh Azorean C. japonica foliage (Az–CJF) residues are used for local EO production. Hydrodistillation (HD), a common process for obtaining EOs, [...] Read more.
Cryptomeria japonica wood industry generates large amounts of foliage biomass residues. Due to the increasing applications and markets for essential oils (EOs), fresh Azorean C. japonica foliage (Az–CJF) residues are used for local EO production. Hydrodistillation (HD), a common process for obtaining EOs, also provides the possibility to fractionate them. Thus, this study evaluated the in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of six Az–CJF EO fractions (Frs. 1–6), collected at sequential HD timeframes (HDTs: 0–2, 2–10, 10–30, 30–60, 60–120, and 120–240 min), in comparison to the crude EO, obtained from a non-fractionated HD (0–240 min HDT). Antimicrobial activities were assessed via disc diffusion method against seven bacteria (foodborne and/or human pathogens) and two Penicillium spp. (phytopathogenic fungi), and antioxidant activity was estimated using DPPH and ABTS assays. Concerning the antibacterial activity, all the EO samples were effective only toward Gram-positive bacteria. Fractions 1–3 (<30 min HDT) were the most active, with growth inhibition zones (GIZ) of 7.0–23.3 mm (1.4–2.2 times higher than those of the crude EO), being Bacillus spp. (B. licheniformis and B. subtilis) the most sensitive, followed by Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus. Regarding the antifungal activity, Frs. 1–3 also displayed the best activities, but only against P. italicum (GIZ around 9.0 mm), while the crude EO showed no antifungal activity. Overall, the best antimicrobial properties of Frs. 1–3 could be attributed, at least in part, to their highest content in α-pinene and bornyl acetate. On the other hand, Frs. 4–6 (>30 min HDT) exhibited the strongest antioxidant activities (EC50 values: 1.5–2.3 and 1.0–1.7 mg mL−1 for DPPH and ABTS, respectively), being at least 1.3-fold higher than those of the crude EO. The presence of nezukol, elemol, and eudesmol isomers could strongly contribute to the best free radical scavenging properties of Frs. 4–6. In conclusion, HD was found to be an efficient process for obtaining new Az–CJF EO fractions with variable and enhanced bioactivities due to their differential composition, as assessed using GC–MS. Hence, these findings could contribute to increasing the commercial potential of the C. japonica EO industry, namely, the Fr2 and Fr6, which presented the most significant activities and can have potential applications in the food, medical, and agriculture sectors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Plant Extracts in Pest Control)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 1706 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Ten Alternative Treatments for the Management of Harlequin Bug (Murgantia histrionica) on Brassica Crops
by Sarah Clark, Ricardo Bessin, David Gonthier and Jonathan Larson
Plants 2024, 13(12), 1618; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13121618 - 12 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1036
Abstract
Harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica) poses a significant threat to cruciferous vegetable crops, leading to economic losses and challenges in sustainable agriculture. This 2-year field study evaluated the efficacy of exclusion netting and selected biopesticides in controlling harlequin bug populations in a [...] Read more.
Harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica) poses a significant threat to cruciferous vegetable crops, leading to economic losses and challenges in sustainable agriculture. This 2-year field study evaluated the efficacy of exclusion netting and selected biopesticides in controlling harlequin bug populations in a field-grown broccoli crop. Treatments included an untreated control, industry standards Azera and Entrust, and ProtekNet mesh netting. Additionally, three commercial essential oil treatments including Essentria IC-3, Nature-Cide, and Zero Tolerance were tested along with two bokashi fermented composting products BrewKashi and Oriental Herbal Nutrient (OHN). During both the first and second year of the study, none of the commercially produced essential oil products or bokashi products were effective in controlling harlequin bug or preventing leaf scars. Conversely, ProtekNet consistently provided the highest level of protection against harlequin bugs of all stages as well as leaf damage scars; it also provided the largest broccoli head width and highest yield. Entrust showed similar results compared to ProtekNet, both with the control of harlequin bug life stages and with leaf scars. These findings indicate that both ProtekNet and Entrust are effective organic alternatives for managing harlequin bug on broccoli, while the selected essential oil and bokashi products do not appear to be effective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Plant Extracts in Pest Control)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 3546 KiB  
Article
Mentha spp. Essential Oils: A Potential Toxic Fumigant with Inhibition of Acetylcholinesterase Activity on Reticulitermes dabieshanensis
by Ziwei Wu, Chunzhe Jin, Yiyang Chen, Shimeng Yang, Xi Yang, Dayu Zhang and Yongjian Xie
Plants 2023, 12(23), 4034; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12234034 - 30 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1011
Abstract
In this study, we analyzed the components of Mentha spp. essential oils (EOs) and evaluated their major constituents and binary combinations against Reticulitermes dabieshanensis. We also determined the activities of esterases (ESTs), glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), and acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) in treated insects. [...] Read more.
In this study, we analyzed the components of Mentha spp. essential oils (EOs) and evaluated their major constituents and binary combinations against Reticulitermes dabieshanensis. We also determined the activities of esterases (ESTs), glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), and acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) in treated insects. According to our findings, the most effective oils were those obtained from M. citrata (with the major constituent linalool constituting 45.1%), M. piperita (menthol, 49.1%), and M. spicata (carvone, 69.0%), with LC50 values of 0.176, 0.366, and 0.146 μL/L, respectively. The LC50 values were recorded for linalool (0.303 μL/L), followed by menthol (0.272 μL/L), and carvone (0.147 μL/L). The insecticidal potency increased with binary mixtures of major active constituents, with carvone strongly synergizing the toxicity of linalool and menthol against R. dabieshanensis. Compared to the control, except for M. citrata treated with no difference in α-NA or GST activity, the activities of ESTs and GST in other treatment groups were significantly increased. Additionally, our results found that Mentha spp. EOs and their major constituents inhibited the activity of AChE in vivo and in vitro. Finally, we performed a structure-based virtual screening of linalool, menthol, and carvone to identify that linalool had the greatest potential to bind to the active site of AChE. The present study suggests that Mentha spp. EOs could provide an additional approach for the management of termites over synthetic insecticides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Plant Extracts in Pest Control)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop