Plant Natural Compounds for the Control of Crop Pests and Diseases
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 289
Editors
2. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos (ICTA), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (FCEFyN), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba X5016GCA, Argentina
3. Cátedra de Microbiología Agrícola, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias (FCA), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ing. Agr. Félix Aldo Marrone 746, Córdoba X5016GCA, Argentina
Interests: volatile organic compounds; fungal metabolites; sustainable agriculture; biopesticides; essential oils; plant extract; seed coating; chemical ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos (ICTA), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (FCEFyN), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba X5016GCA, Argentina
Interests: agricultural microbiology; volatile organic compounds; fungal metabolites; insect control; essential oils; natural antimicrobial compounds; pest management; chemical ecology; seed treatment; sustainable agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The growing awareness of the environmental and health risks associated with the intensive use of synthetic pesticides has driven the search for safer and more sustainable crop protection strategies. In this context, natural compounds have emerged as alternative control agents, with particular emphasis on plant-derived secondary metabolites for the control of agricultural pests and pathogens. Plant metabolites such as essential oils, phenolics, alkaloids, and extracts have demonstrated significant antibacterial, antifungal, insecticidal, and nematicidal effects, in addition to repellent and antifeedant effects against a broad range of pests affecting economically important crops. Unlike conventional pesticides, these natural compounds generally exhibit lower environmental persistence, greater target specificity, and a reduced risk of resistance development, highlighting their relevance within sustainable agricultural production systems.
This Special Issue aims to bring together original research and review articles focused especially on the isolation, characterization, biological efficacy, formulation, and field application of plant-derived metabolites with biological activity against pests and pathogens, thereby advancing the development of innovative and environmentally friendly tools for crop protection.
Dr. Romina P. Pizzolitto
Dr. Fernanda Achimón
Guest Editors
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants 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 2700 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
- biopesticides
- essential oils
- plant extracts
- microbial volatile organic compounds
- biological activity
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