Plant metabolites: an alternative and sustainable approach towards post harvest pest management in pulses

Abstract

Grain legumes are an important source of proteins in vegetarian diet besides their role in biological nitrogen fixation. They are prone to heavy pest infestation both on and off the field. Pest associated losses are an important contributing factor towards declining per capita availability of grain legumes. Synthetic chemical pesticides have played an important role in crop preservation, however their incessant use has posed several environmental and human health concerns. Methyl bromide and phosphine are commonly used for the post harvest preservation of grain legumes. However, the former has to be phased out by 2015 as per the Montreal protocol whereas the latter is showing development of resistance to it by the insects. In the light of this, alternative, safer and sustainable strategies are needed for crop protection. Plants can serve as a rich source of bioactive chemicals for this purpose. Both primary as well as secondary metabolites can be evaluated against the target pests. The paper reviews the status of research in the area of use of plant metabolites in post harvest pest management of grain legumes.

Metabolomics analysis of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn.) fruit pericarp using different extraction methods and GC-MS

“…The metabolites successfully detected by GC-MS analysis comprised of mainly primary metabolites, especially sugars (Fig 1). Primary metabolites are central to life processes and play key roles for plant growth, development and survival (Salunke et al, 2009;Kumar et al, 2014). Since the mangosteen fruit was harvested at the final stage of ripening (dark purple stage), the sugar content was expected to be higher compared to the other metabolites.…”

“…Secondary metabolites are organic molecules that derived from primary metabolites, responsible for plant defense mechanism against various factors such as pests, environmental conditions and diseases (Salunke et al, 2009;Kumar et al, 2014). Six secondary metabolites were found in mangosteen fruit pericarp comprising of four phenolic compounds (salicylic acid, benzoic acids, 3,4dihydroxybenzoic acid and 4-hydroxyphenylethanol) and two aromatic compounds (2H-1-benzopyran and benzaldehyde) (Table S1).…”

Biosynthesis of graphene‐metal nanocomposites using plant extract and their biological activities

“…Plant extracts are a rich source of bioactive chemicals . Plant extracts have been demonstrated to be promising reducing and capping agents for biosynthesis of a variety of metal nanoparticles such as silver and gold nanoparticles .…”

“…Plant extracts are a rich source of bioactive chemicals. 26 Plant extracts have been demonstrated to be promising reducing and capping agents for biosynthesis of a variety of metal nanoparticles such as silver and gold nanoparticles. 27 -29 Recently, we reported a new, simple, economical, eco-friendly, and scalable strategy to produce few-layer graphene flakes through mild sonication with the use of eco-friendly plant extracts.…”

Role of storage facilities for insect pest control strategies in Punjab, Pakistan

“…Nutrients are indeed the obligatory supply of life forms for all organisms living on the earth (Salunke et al, 2009). Agriculture plays a vital and most governing role in the accomplishment and fulfillment of the basic need for the world's escalating population, which is proposed to increase by 8 billion till 2025 (Khush, 1999).…”