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Natural Products Acting as Insecticides or Herbicides
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Natural Products Acting as Insecticides or Herbicides

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2019) | Viewed by 18672

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Vincenzo De Feo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: herbs; essential oils; natural extracts; cytotoxicity; antimicrobial; biofilm
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products are chemical compounds or substances originating from living organisms. Secondary metabolites, both from plants and animals, play a pivotal role in biological and environmental interactions between organisms and ecosystesms. In recent years, there has been a major scientific breakthrough involving the exploration, characterization, and elucidation of the mechanisms of action of natural substances, in order to obtain new compounds with biological activity for use in agriculture. Moreover, growing concern about human and environment health had led to the development of natural methods for controlling agricultural pests. Because of non-phytotoxicity, sistemicity, easy biodegradability, and the stimulatory nature of the host’s metabolism, plant secondary metabolites possess the potential to be used in pest management. This Special Issue aims to collect and disseminate some of the most significant and recent contributions in the interdisciplinary field of natural products acting as insecticides or herbicides.

Prof. Dr. Vincenzo De Feo
Guest Editor

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. Molecules 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

  • natural compounds
  • secondary metabolites
  • plant-derived insecticides
  • natural herbicides
  • bioactive substances

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 2519 KiB  
Article
Insecticidal Activity and Insecticidal Mechanism of Total Saponins from Camellia oleifera
by Chuanjian Cui, Yunqin Yang, Tianyu Zhao, Kangkang Zou, Chuanyi Peng, Huimei Cai, Xiaochun Wan and Ruyan Hou
Molecules 2019, 24(24), 4518; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24244518 - 10 Dec 2019
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4969
Abstract
Chemical pesticides are commonly used during the cultivation of agricultural products to control pests and diseases. Excessive use of traditional pesticides can cause environmental and human health risks. There are ongoing searches for new plant-derived pesticides to reduce the use of chemical pesticides. [...] Read more.
Chemical pesticides are commonly used during the cultivation of agricultural products to control pests and diseases. Excessive use of traditional pesticides can cause environmental and human health risks. There are ongoing searches for new plant-derived pesticides to reduce the use of chemical pesticides. In this study, tea saponin extracts of different purities were extracted from Camellia oleifera seeds using AB-8 macroporous resin and gradient elution with ethanol. The insecticidal effects of the tea saponin extracts were evaluated by contact toxicity tests and stomach toxicity tests using the lepidopteran pest of tea plantation, Ectropis obliqua. The total saponins extracted using 70% ethanol showed strong contact toxicity (LC50 = 8.459 mg/L) and stomach toxicity (LC50 = 22.395 mg/L). In-depth mechanistic studies demonstrated that tea saponins can disrupt the waxy layer of the epidermis, causing serious loss of water, and can penetrate the inside of the intestine of E. obliqua. After consumption of the tea saponins, the intestinal villi were shortened and the cavities of the intestinal wall were disrupted, which resulted in larval death. This study highlights the potential of tea saponins as a natural, plant-derived pesticide for the management of plant pests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products Acting as Insecticides or Herbicides)
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13 pages, 1754 KiB  
Article
Medium-Chain Fatty Acids from Eugenia winzerlingii Leaves Causing Insect Settling Deterrent, Nematicidal, and Phytotoxic Effects
by Angel Cruz-Estrada, Esaú Ruiz-Sánchez, Jairo Cristóbal-alejo, Azucena González-Coloma, María Fe Andrés and Marcela Gamboa-Angulo
Molecules 2019, 24(9), 1724; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24091724 - 03 May 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3296
Abstract
Eugenia winzerlingii (Myrtaceae) is an endemic plant from the Yucatan peninsula. Its organic extracts and fractions from leaves have been tested on two phloem-feeding insects, Bemisia tabaci and Myzus persicae, on two plant parasitic nematodes, Meloidogyne incognita and Meloidogyne javanica, and [...] Read more.
Eugenia winzerlingii (Myrtaceae) is an endemic plant from the Yucatan peninsula. Its organic extracts and fractions from leaves have been tested on two phloem-feeding insects, Bemisia tabaci and Myzus persicae, on two plant parasitic nematodes, Meloidogyne incognita and Meloidogyne javanica, and phytotoxicity on Lolium perenne and Solanum lycopersicum. Results showed that both the hexane extract and the ethyl acetate extract, as well as the fractions, have strong antifeedant and nematicidal effects. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses of methylated active fractions revealed the presence of a mixture of fatty acids. Authentic standards of detected fatty acids and methyl and ethyl derivatives were tested on target organisms. The most active compounds were decanoic, undecanoic, and dodecanoic acids. Methyl and ethyl ester derivatives had lower effects in comparison with free fatty acids. Dose-response experiments showed that undecanoic acid was the most potent compound with EC50 values of 21 and 6 nmol/cm2 for M. persicae and B. tabaci, respectively, and 192 and 64 nmol for M. incognita and M. javanica, respectively. In a phytotoxicity assay, medium-chain fatty acids caused a decrease of 38–52% in root length and 50–60% in leaf length of L. perenne, but no effects were observed on S. lycopersicum. This study highlights the importance of the genus Eugenia as a source of bioactive metabolites for plant pest management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products Acting as Insecticides or Herbicides)
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21 pages, 6671 KiB  
Article
Toxicological Effects of Traumatic Acid and Selected Herbicides on Human Breast Cancer Cells: In Vitro Cytotoxicity Assessment of Analyzed Compounds
by Agata Jabłońska-Trypuć, Urszula Wydro, Elżbieta Wołejko and Andrzej Butarewicz
Molecules 2019, 24(9), 1710; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24091710 - 02 May 2019
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3466
Abstract
The main consequence of herbicides use is the presence of their residues in food of plant origin. A growing body of evidence indicates that herbicides cause detrimental effects upon human health while demonstrating a direct link of pesticides exposure with the occurrence of [...] Read more.
The main consequence of herbicides use is the presence of their residues in food of plant origin. A growing body of evidence indicates that herbicides cause detrimental effects upon human health while demonstrating a direct link of pesticides exposure with the occurrence of human chronic diseases, including cancer. There is a pressing need to develop our knowledge regarding interactions of food contaminants and food components both in vitro and in vivo. Pesticides are highly undesirable food contaminants, and traumatic acid (TA) is a very beneficial food ingredient, therefore we decided to study if TA may act as a compound that delays the stimulatory effect of pesticides on breast cancer cells. To analyze the potential effects that selected herbicides (MCPA, mesotrione, bifenox and dichlobenil) may have upon cancerous cells, we conducted studies of the cytotoxicity of physiological concentrations of four pesticides and the mix of TA with tested herbicides in three different breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, ZR-75-1 and MDA-MB-231) and one normal healthy breast cell line MCF-12A. Based on the obtained results we conclude that TA in a concentration-dependent manner might influence selected effects of the studied herbicides for particular cancer cells lines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products Acting as Insecticides or Herbicides)
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Review

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58 pages, 7175 KiB  
Review
…Fell Upas Sits, the Hydra-Tree of Death †, or the Phytotoxicity of Trees
by Vadim G. Lebedev, Konstantin V. Krutovsky and Konstantin A. Shestibratov
Molecules 2019, 24(8), 1636; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24081636 - 25 Apr 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 6264
Abstract
The use of natural products that can serve as natural herbicides and insecticides is a promising direction because of their greater safety for humans and environment. Secondary metabolites of plants that are toxic to plants and insects—allelochemicals—can be used as such products. Woody [...] Read more.
The use of natural products that can serve as natural herbicides and insecticides is a promising direction because of their greater safety for humans and environment. Secondary metabolites of plants that are toxic to plants and insects—allelochemicals—can be used as such products. Woody plants can produce allelochemicals, but they are studied much less than herbaceous species. Meanwhile, there is a problem of interaction of woody species with neighboring plants in the process of introduction or invasion, co-cultivation with agricultural crops (agroforestry) or in plantation forestry (multiclonal or multispecies plantations). This review describes woody plants with the greatest allelopathic potential, allelochemicals derived from them, and the prospects for their use as biopesticides. In addition, the achievement of and the prospects for the use of biotechnology methods in relation to the allelopathy of woody plants are presented and discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products Acting as Insecticides or Herbicides)
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