Project PTDC/BAA-AGR/31131/2017

The intensive use of chemical pesticides in recent decades has caused serious damage to humans and ecosystems. Consequently, environmental friendly crop protection and fresh food conservation strategies should be put into practice by using biodegradable plant products (PPs) classified as ?GRAS?. This project has as main objectives; (a), contribute to the design of new biopesticides, based on essential oils (EO), hydroalcoholic plant extracts (HAE) and silicon (Si) used as free formulations or complexed with natural supports, including nano- / microcapsulated formulations, as well as and (b), contribute to filling the gaps in knowledge about crop protection mechanisms.

Possible toxic effects on humans of OE, HAE and Si will be overlooked from the perspective of their applications in agriculture and post-harvest conservation of fresh fruits and vegetables.< /p>

The intensive use of pesticides in the last five decades has generated serious problems, affecting humans and existing biotypes on Earth. Consequently, environmentally friendly strategies, crop protection and fresh food canning must be achieved through the use of biodegradable plant products and GRAS (PPs).

In order to obtain the greatest effectiveness, and thinking about obtaining new patented bioactive products, bioassay approaches aim to explore methods of complexing natural bioactive compounds with natural supports, such as delivery, including its nano/microencapsulation. EO and HAE volatiles from Foeniculum, Apium, Pimpinela, Anethum, Cuminum (Apiaceae), Thymus, Origanum, Salvia, Mentha, Lavandula (Lamiaceae), Linum
(Linaceae) and Cymbopogon (Poaceae) will be isolated and their constituents identified and quantified by GC-MS and GC. The biopesticide potential of OE and HAE will be evaluated against
spoilage yeasts selected, as well as Botrytis cinerea and Venturia inaequalis and against the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica. These parasitic microorganisms are responsible for some of the most devastating crop diseases. Screening for various anti-insect activities will also be carried out using the same PPs against Lepidoptera species (devastating pest in agriculture and dry plant products) and Coleoptera species (devastating dry plant products). Bioassays will be performed using EO and HAE free formulations and matrix-bound, micro and nanoencapsulated EO and HAE formulations. The biosecurity of the new PPs will be accessed through lever cells (the main detoxifying organ of xenobiotics). The tomato plants will be infected with the mentioned fungi, nematodes and insects and later submitted to treatments of EO, HAE and different silicon molecular formulas. After applying appropriate extraction techniques to obtain mRNA, proteins or metabolites in an unbiased and comprehensive manner, the samples are subjected to parallel assays to obtain a comprehensive transcriptome, proteome and metabolome dataset. These datasets are then analyzed in bioinformatics pipelines to identify the components and amount of differences in the abundance of specific mRNAs, proteins and metabolites, which may be related to phenotypic changes in the plant, such as resistance to herbivores or pathogens. This information can then be used in crop management practices.