Abstract
Bio-sourced substances used for crop protection in natural and organic farming have a positive impact both on human and environment health: plant extracts are effective to stimulate plant defense against pests and diseases, with no toxic effect and they could be classified as basic substances. The chemical characterization of thyme and tansy extracts were carried out with ICP and NMR techniques for the analysis of elemental content and organic components. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH method. Phytostimulant effects of extracts were evaluated on zucchini crop in a preliminary field test. Vegetative plant conditions were assessed by measuring the chlorophyll content. The 1% extracts were chosen for field trial because of their maximum antioxidant activity (over 80%) and their cheapness compared to 2% concentration. NMR showed that the spectrum of tansy highlighted the phenolic fraction in 6-9 ppm region and, in particular, at 5.9 ppm the signals of thymol, a peculiar antioxidant compound; while the spectrum of thyme is less significant. The field trial results showed a higher fruit yield and a positive effect on plant growth in treated plants respect to control ones, due to the composition and antioxidant activity of both plant extracts. In fact, thyme extract treated plants showed a yield equal to 6,4 kg per plant, higher than no treated ones, 5,1 kg per plant; also tansy extract induced a higher yield respect to control plant, respectively 5,6 and 3,9 kg per plant. The results obtained indicate the role of the extracts investigated as basic substances.
Highlights
Biological methods use to stimulate plant self-defense against pathogens and parasites is one of the main objectives to be promoted in compliance with Directive 2009/128/EC, regarding the sustainable use of pesticides (EU, 2009).Synthetic pesticides impacts on the environment and on farmers’ and consumers’ health, especially in the production of fresh market vegetables, due to the high toxicity and the non-biodegradability of the major part of these products
Bio-sourced and traditional plant extracts and plant defense enhancers used as crop protection are obvious candidates to be included in the list of basic substances, products which are already used for other purposes, e.g. as a foodstuff or a cosmetic, but which can serve as a plant protection product (Marchand, 2017)
Free radical scavenging activity of plant extracts has been extensively evaluated by DPPH method
Summary
Biological methods use to stimulate plant self-defense against pathogens and parasites is one of the main objectives to be promoted in compliance with Directive 2009/128/EC, regarding the sustainable use of pesticides (EU, 2009).Synthetic pesticides impacts on the environment and on farmers’ and consumers’ health, especially in the production of fresh market vegetables, due to the high toxicity and the non-biodegradability of the major part of these products. Biological methods use to stimulate plant self-defense against pathogens and parasites is one of the main objectives to be promoted in compliance with Directive 2009/128/EC, regarding the sustainable use of pesticides (EU, 2009). It is necessary to develop sustainable agricultural practices (crop rotation, use of seasonal crop, etc.) to reduce chemical products use and to contrast the resistance induced on parasites by several classes of pesticides (Koul and Walia, 2009). For several substances traditionally used in amateur gardening and organic farming, a solution for a registration at EU level must be found. Article 23 of Regulation 1107/2009, that defines basic substances, could be a possible solution, in association with the implementation of the legislation at Member State level (IFOAM, 2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
