Plant Secondary Metabolites: Emerging Trends in Agricultural Pests Control

Plants are producing enormous chemical diversity of plant secondary metabolites as a self-defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. With the advancement in analytical chemistry, different groups of plant secondary metabolites including nitrogen containing compounds, phenolic compounds, and terpenes were evolved as candidate bioactive substances to control the infestations of agricultural pests. Recent efficacy results of plant secondary metabolites against major agricultural pests involved in pre-harvest and post-harvest losses revealed that plant secondary metabolites have tremendous potential to be incorporated into the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy of agricultural pests. However, extensive research is needed to overcome the challenges through scientific knowledge in order to develop eco-friendly formulations of plant secondary metabolites against agricultural pests adversely threatening sustainable global food production.