Pesticides may be defined as any compound or mixture of components intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest. In this critical review, a compilation of plant-derived metabolites, along with their corresponding toxicology and mechanisms of action, will be approached, as well as the different strategies developed in order to meet the required commercial standards through more efficient methods. However, several factors appear to limit their commercialization. In general, those compounds have important ecological activities in nature, such as: antifeedant, attractant, nematicide, fungicide, repellent, insecticide, insect growth regulator and allelopathic agents, acting as a promising source for novel pest control agents or biopesticides.
Natural plant products with bioactivity toward insects include several classes of molecules, for example: terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, polyphenols, cyanogenic glucosides, quinones, amides, aldehydes, thiophenes, amino acids, saccharides and polyketides (which is not an exhaustive list of insecticidal substances). They are cheap, biodegradable, ecofriendly and act by several mechanisms of action in a more specific way, suggesting that they are less of a hazard to humans and the environment. Therefore, in order to improve efficiency of crop production and reduce food crisis in a sustainable manner, while preserving consumer’s health, plant-derived pesticides may be a green alternative to synthetic ones. Moreover, due to indiscriminate use of synthetic pesticides over the years, several issues have come along, such as pest resistance and contamination of important planet sources, such as water, air and soil. Pests and diseases are responsible for most of the losses related to agricultural crops, either in the field or in storage.
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