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Plant Extracts and Essential Oils: Biocontrol Approaches for Pest, Disease,...
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Plant Extracts and Essential Oils: Biocontrol Approaches for Pest, Disease, and Weed Management

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Protection, Diseases, Pests and Weeds".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 1377

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hua Shao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Interests: bio-pesticide; plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR); natural compounds; plant growth regulation; biological invasion; bio-stimulant
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In agricultural production practices, common issues such as crop diseases, insect pests, and weeds are often addressed through control measures including manual and chemical methods. Manual control is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to recurrence, while chemical control not only poses risks of environmental pollution but also often induces resistance and results in unsatisfactory outcomes. With growing emphasis on sustainable agricultural development, the use of natural products for biological control has emerged as a new trend in the modern management of crop diseases, pests, and weeds. These natural products, such as plant extracts, as well as essential oils, contain active ingredients that exhibit insecticidal, antimicrobial, and herbicidal properties, enabling effective biocontrol. Biocontrol methods are not only environmentally friendly due to their natural biodegradability but also offer broad application prospects owing to their multi-target effects, which reduce the likelihood of resistance of target species.

We invite original research, reviews, short communications, and case studies on a broad range of topics focusing on the utilization of natural substances as biocontrol agents in agricultural practice for the purpose of controlling pests, pathogens and weeds. This Special Issue aims to provide insights into the current state of biocontrol in agriculture, offering valuable information for researchers and farmers that are interested in sustainable agriculture. 

Prof. Dr. Hua Shao
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant extracts
  • essential oil
  • GC/MS
  • biological control
  • biopesticide
  • plant disease
  • anti-microbial
  • insecticidal
  • herbicidal
  • phytotoxic
  • weed management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 2435 KB  
Article
Stage-Dependent Toxicity of 1,8-Cineole and Diatomaceous Earth, Alone and Combined, Against Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), and Observations on F1 Larvae
by Evrim Sönmez
Agriculture 2026, 16(8), 870; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16080870 - 15 Apr 2026
Viewed by 546
Abstract
Growing interest in environmentally compatible stored-product pest control has highlighted diatomaceous earth (DE) and 1,8-cineole as promising agents, both alone and in combination. Their different modes of action, together with the limitations associated with higher-dose single applications, support evaluating their combined use at [...] Read more.
Growing interest in environmentally compatible stored-product pest control has highlighted diatomaceous earth (DE) and 1,8-cineole as promising agents, both alone and in combination. Their different modes of action, together with the limitations associated with higher-dose single applications, support evaluating their combined use at lower doses. This study was conducted to compare the effects of DE and 1,8-cineole, applied alone and in combination, on the larval, pupal, and adult stages of Tenebrio molitor. Five different concentrations were tested for each substance (DE at 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 ppm, and 1,8-cineole at 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 ppm), and four DE + 1,8-cineole combinations were evaluated within the same experimental system. Mortality was monitored over time, LC50 values were calculated by probit analysis, and larval output observed after adult treatments was also evaluated. The findings indicated that the biological response was associated with developmental stage. The lowest LC50 for DE was recorded in larvae at 86.11 ppm on day 3, whereas for 1,8-cineole the lowest LC50 was recorded in adults at 94.83 ppm on day 3. Combined treatments generally tended to produce faster and stronger mortality; in particular, the DE250 + CIN20 treatment reached 100% mortality in larvae and adults and 93.33% mortality in pupae by day 7. In addition, larval output decreased in the single-treatment groups, the proportion of dead larvae among the observed larvae increased to 96–100%, and no larval output was detected in the combination groups. Combinations of DE and 1,8-cineole tended to produce more pronounced mortality responses than the single treatments, particularly in the larval and adult stages. The present findings indicate that combining DE with 1,8-cineole may provide a promising stage-specific strategy for improving the control of T. molitor under laboratory conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Extracts and Essential Oils: Biocontrol Approaches for Pest, Disease, and Weed Management)
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18 pages, 3648 KB  
Article
Phytotoxic Compounds from Seriphidium transiliense: Isolation, Bioactivity Evaluation, and Preliminary Mechanistic Analysis
by Rui Yang, Yonghui Ma, Nigora Kuchkarova, Hongbin Li and Hua Shao
Agriculture 2026, 16(7), 773; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16070773 - 31 Mar 2026
Viewed by 416
Abstract
Extensive use of chemical herbicides has raised serious concerns regarding agricultural sustainability and ecological safety, highlighting the need for environment friendly bioherbicides. In this study, activity-guided fractionation led to the identification of xanthoxylin and α-santonin from the ethanol extract of a dominant desert [...] Read more.
Extensive use of chemical herbicides has raised serious concerns regarding agricultural sustainability and ecological safety, highlighting the need for environment friendly bioherbicides. In this study, activity-guided fractionation led to the identification of xanthoxylin and α-santonin from the ethanol extract of a dominant desert plant, Seriphidium transiliense, with the phytotoxicity of xanthoxylin being reported for the first time. Petri dish bioassay revealed that both compounds significantly suppressed seedling growth of tested plants in a dose-dependent manner; at 1000 μg/mL, α-santonin inhibited root growth of Amaranthus retroflexus, Setaria viridis, Medicago sativa, and Oxybasis glauca by 98.25%, 79.75%, 71.40%, and 62.75%, respectively, whereas the corresponding inhibition rates for xanthoxylin were 59.15%, 89.71%, 38.80%, and 62.90%. Following pot experiments revealed that both compounds significantly increased MDA content and altered the activities of SOD, CAT, and POD of A. retroflexus seedlings, indicating the induction of oxidative stress. Treated plants also displayed chlorosis and leaf whitening, suggesting possible disturbance of photosynthetic pigment-related processes; subsequent molecular docking further implied that both compounds may interact with protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase (PPO), a key enzyme associated with tetrapyrrole metabolism and chlorophyll biosynthesis. Our results suggests that α-santonin and xanthoxylin have the potential to be developed as bio-herbicides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Extracts and Essential Oils: Biocontrol Approaches for Pest, Disease, and Weed Management)
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