Abstract
Fungal phytopathogens are a growing problem all over the world; their propagation causes significant crop losses, affecting the quality of fruits and vegetables, diminishing the availability of food, leading to the loss of billions of euros every year. To control fungal diseases, the use of synthetic chemical fungicides is widely applied; these substances are, however, environmentally damaging. Marine algae, one of the richest marine sources of compounds possessing a wide range of bioactivities, present an eco-friendly alternative in the search for diverse compounds with industrial applications. The synthesis of such bioactive compounds has been recognized as part of microalgal responsiveness to stress conditions, resulting in the production of polyphenols, polysaccharides, lipophilic compounds, and terpenoids, including halogenated compounds, already described as antimicrobial agents. Furthermore, many studies, in vitro or in planta, have demonstrated the inhibitory activity of these compounds with respect to fungal phytopathogens. This review aims to gather the maximum of information addressing macroalgae extracts with potential inhibition against fungal phytopathogens, including the best inhibitory results, while presenting some already reported mechanisms of action.
Highlights
Plant pests pose a paramount problem that has been increasing in recent years
The present review focuses on the potential of macroalgae-derived products, aiming to combine the available information regarding the potential/activity of fungal phytopathogen inhibition, while
Strange and Scott already highlighted this problem in their review of 2005 [6] describing all the fungal pathogens and respective diseases from the main crop plants used for consumption
Summary
The exact production losses due to these phytopathogens are hard to quantify but it is estimated that plant pests account for 20–40% of annual crop production losses [1,2], at a cost of more than 185 billion euros [3]. Included among these pests, fungal pathogens are one of the most damaging agents in plants, accounting for the devastation of myriad fruits and crops, which results in vast economic losses [4], and reduces food availability for a continuously increasing world population [5,6]. It is predicted that phytopathogenic fungi are responsible for about
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