Research group seeks new pesticides in Brazil's plant biodiversity‏

A Brazilian research group is using the vast plant biodiversity of the country to seek new pesticides. Agronomist Leandro do Prado Ribeiro, part of the staff of the Superior Agriculture School Luiz de Queiroz (Esalq) at the University of São Paulo, seeks to identify and characterize synthesized substances by secondary metabolites (allelochemicals) neotropical Annonaceae and evaluate its potential for use in pest management.

According to him, the use of synthetic compounds on insect management and mites in Brazil has, actually, significant restrictions. "The persistence of waste in food, due to the high persistence of the active ingredients employed there, and inefficiency in controlling pest species by the selection of resistant populations to different active ingredients are some of the current limitations of integrated pest management (IPM)", he justifies.

Ribeiro affirms that in this scenario things are getting worse because of the prohibition of active ingredients widely used at the management of species on different production systems. "Facing this panorama, the discovery of new substances, with superior characteristics, this then constitutes an imminent necessity of IMP, on the field and on storage".

Other than contributing for the knowledge of arthropod-plant interactions, his study of allelochemicals is a contemporary approach to the selection of new (bio) pesticides that meet the requirements of safety, efficacy and selectivity. "Besides it, the risk of extinction of species by the man's predatory action have motivated the studies of these plants, aiming to conservation and rational use, an strategic action that of research for very diverse countries like Brazil", comments the researcher.

New compositions were isolated and demonstrated that promising actions with insecticide and acaricide, besides being compatible with microbial control agents. "Studies of synthesis and semi-synthesis and optimization of retrieval from natural sources are being carried out, which may result in the development of new synthetic pesticides produced based on the molecular skeletons of the characterized compounds or even the formulation of new insecticides botanists ("non-synthetic") that may be available in the Brazilian market", he reveals.

Ribeiro developed the study through a bioactivity form in the program of Post-Graduation in Entomology at Esalq. With the guidance of Professor José Djair Vendramim, at the Department of Entomology and Acarology, the work was done through a partnership of the Laboratory of Plant Resistance to Insects and Plants Insecticides School, with the Department of Chemistry, Federal University of São Carlos, as part of activities of the National Institute of Science and Technology in Biorrational Insect Control and Pests.

"One of the stages of the study was done at the Insect Toxicology Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canadá", tell the author of the study. The study had the sponsorship from the Foundation for Research Support of the State of Sao Paulo.