Plant Allelochemicals as Sources of Insecticides

Abstract

In this review, we describe the role of plant-derived biochemicals that are toxic to insect pests. Biotic stress in plants caused by insect pests is one of the most significant problems, leading to yield losses. Synthetic pesticides still play a significant role in crop protection. However, the environmental side effects and health issues caused by the overuse or inappropriate application of synthetic pesticides forced authorities to ban some problematic ones. Consequently, there is a strong necessity for novel and alternative insect pest control methods. An interesting source of ecological pesticides are biocidal compounds, naturally occurring in plants as allelochemicals (secondary metabolites), helping plants to resist, tolerate or compensate the stress caused by insect pests. The abovementioned bioactive natural products are the first line of defense in plants against insect herbivores. The large group of secondary plant metabolites, including alkaloids, saponins, phenols and terpenes, are the most promising compounds in the management of insect pests. Secondary metabolites offer sustainable pest control, therefore we can conclude that certain plant species provide numerous promising possibilities for discovering novel and ecologically friendly methods for the control of numerous insect pests.

Physiological and Immunological Status of Adult Honeybees (Apis mellifera) Fed Sugar Syrup Supplemented with Pentadecapeptide BPC 157

“…All these new cognitions give a good basis for further studies of BPC 157 use in all aspects of beekeeping. Additionally, it is interestingly that, in plants, LAP is a product of octadecanoid pathway and is involved in late wound response [ 64 , 65 ] as an essential defense mechanism. Since BPC 157 promotes wound healing via gene expression modulation in animals, notably Egr, Nos, Srf, Vegr, Akt1, Plcɣ and Kras genes [ 33 ], it would be interesting to study its efficacy in plants and the potential activation of LAP genes (LapA1 and LapA) known to be involved in wound-healing response in plants [ 66 ].…”

Identification for surrogate drought tolerance in maize inbred lines utilizing high-throughput phenomics approach

“…Modern agriculture is facing challenges of producing sufficient food [1][2][3] for a global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 [4,5]. In the past several decades, the major food crop production has increased considerably as a result of timely application of fertilizers and other inputs, improved farming practices [6,7] and genetic improvement [8].…”

Phytochemical Constituents and Toxicity of the Ethanol Extract of Ricinus communis (L.) in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Flavonoids and polyphenols are two groups of compounds with many potential biological activities used to control and manage insect pests [15]. Therefore, quantification of total flavonoids and total polyphenols is important to assess the insect resistance of R. communis.…”