The agricultural need for greater food production in smaller and smaller spaces led to the search for technologies capable of supplying higher yield per area, which separates the use of agricultural pesticides. In addition, attack by microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria and viruses is one of the safest causes of post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables. Among the products used as pesticides, organophosphorus compounds (OPs) are even more important for agricultural activities around the world, constituting a very diverse family of organic chemicals. OPs have been banned from agriculture in several countries because of their high toxicity, once they can be inhibitors of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which plays a critical role in the proper functioning of nerve cells. However, a toxicity is related to molecule structure. Thus, a new generation of OPs have studied, non-inhibitors of AChE and with greater biological activity.
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