Bioactivity and mechanistic studies of selected medicinal plants for their potential application as biopesticides

Abstract

Plant protection in agriculture is a challenging issue that demands multipronged newlinestrategy that emphasizes sustainability and reduces dependency on chemical newlinepesticides. Biopesticides originates from plant or microbial source were identified as newlinean ecofriendly alternative to synthetic chemical agents. The study is an attempt to newlineidentify and evaluate potential plant based biopesticides. The present work evaluated newlinethe anti-insect properties of medicinal plants Anamirta cocculus, Strychnos nuxvomica, Pachygone laurifolia (=Cocculus laurifolius) and Cardiospermum newlinehalicacabum against lepidopteran insects - Spodoptera litura and Olepa ricini. The newlineanti-insect properties including anti-feedant activity, repellent activity and contact newlinetoxicity of the plant extracts were evaluated against these pests. Bark extract of P. newlinelaurifolia was found to have significant anti-feedant and repellent activities and these newlineactivities were assessed using assays and histopathological analysis to understand the newlinebiochemical mechanisms involved in the insecticidal properties. The extracts newlinewere phytochemically characterized with gas chromatography - mass spectrometry newline(GC-MS) and a comparative analysis was done with high performance newlinethin layer chromatography (HPTLC). Over all the study established the anti-insect potential of P. laurifolia and provide an newlineinsight for utilizing this plant for the development of biopesticide formulations with newlinesignificant activity and stability. newline