In agriculture, increasing attention has been paid to limiting the amount of synthetic chemical products employed, preserving the ecosystem’s biodiversity and human health. Potential alternative solutions have been found in plant extracts and essential oils, which appear as promising candidates for their properties (bioactive, highly biodegradable products) in managing plant diseases in agriculture. Indeed, many studies have reported their relevant antimicrobial, nematocidal, insecticidal, larvicidal, and fungicidal properties. However, information on the potential lethal or sublethal effects caused by these compounds is limited to in vitro studies and is completely absent on free-living soil fauna. Nematodes are regarded as model organisms in many branches of biology, from developmental biology to ecotoxicology and biomonitoring assessment. Therefore, to assess the possible effects of one of the best essential oil (EO) candidates for application in crop protection, a pilot experiment in the field was carried out. In particular, chickpea seeds (Cicerarietinum) were treated before sowing by applying a high concentration of basil (Ocimum basilicum) EO (25% v/v, methyl chavicol chemotype). The coating was obtained with chitosan (CHI), a natural aminopolysaccharide commonly used in combination with EOs to limit their volatility. The experiment was designed to assess the possible changes in nematode taxonomic composition and biodiversity from control soil plots with untreated seeds, soil plots with seeds coated only with CHI, and others with seeds coated with EO + CHI as well as before and after the sowing. The preliminary data seem to support the idea that the coating with basil EO is potentially eco-friendly.
Plant extracts and essential oils for modern sustainable crop protection and their biomonitoring effects using free-living nematodes
Semprucci F.
Supervision
;Guidi L.Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;Catani L.Data Curation
;Grassi E.Formal Analysis
2025
Abstract
In agriculture, increasing attention has been paid to limiting the amount of synthetic chemical products employed, preserving the ecosystem’s biodiversity and human health. Potential alternative solutions have been found in plant extracts and essential oils, which appear as promising candidates for their properties (bioactive, highly biodegradable products) in managing plant diseases in agriculture. Indeed, many studies have reported their relevant antimicrobial, nematocidal, insecticidal, larvicidal, and fungicidal properties. However, information on the potential lethal or sublethal effects caused by these compounds is limited to in vitro studies and is completely absent on free-living soil fauna. Nematodes are regarded as model organisms in many branches of biology, from developmental biology to ecotoxicology and biomonitoring assessment. Therefore, to assess the possible effects of one of the best essential oil (EO) candidates for application in crop protection, a pilot experiment in the field was carried out. In particular, chickpea seeds (Cicerarietinum) were treated before sowing by applying a high concentration of basil (Ocimum basilicum) EO (25% v/v, methyl chavicol chemotype). The coating was obtained with chitosan (CHI), a natural aminopolysaccharide commonly used in combination with EOs to limit their volatility. The experiment was designed to assess the possible changes in nematode taxonomic composition and biodiversity from control soil plots with untreated seeds, soil plots with seeds coated only with CHI, and others with seeds coated with EO + CHI as well as before and after the sowing. The preliminary data seem to support the idea that the coating with basil EO is potentially eco-friendly.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
