Armeria maritima (Mill.) Willd. Flower Hydromethanolic Extract for Cucurbitaceae Fungal Diseases Control

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 28; no. 9; p. 3730
• Main Authors: Sánchez-Hernández, Eva, Martín-Ramos, Pablo, Navas-Gracia, Luis Manuel, Martín-Gil, Jesús, Garcés-Claver, Ana, Flores-León, Alejandro, González-García, Vicente
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26-04-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Acrylic acid; antifungal; Antifungal activity; Antifungal Agents - chemistry; Antifungal Agents - pharmacology; Antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Armeria maritima; Azoxystrobin; Chitosan; Chitosan - pharmacology; Crop diseases; Crops; Cucurbitaceae; Cucurbitaceae - microbiology; Ethyl esters; Flavonoids; Flowers; Flowers & plants; Fungal diseases; Fungicides; Fusarium; Gas chromatography; GC–MS; halophyte; Halophytes; Horticulture; Host plants; In vitro methods and tests; Macrophomina; Mancozeb; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Mold; Mycoses; Palmitic acid; Pathogens; Pesticides; Phenols; Phytochemicals; Plant diseases; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant Diseases - prevention & control; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plumbaginaceae; Soil-borne diseases; Spectrum analysis; Macrophomina; Neocosmospora; antifungal; GC–MS; halophyte; Cucurbitaceae; Fusarium; phytocompounds; Sclerotinia
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules28093730

The cliff rose (
), like other halophytes, has a phenolics-based antioxidant system that allows it to grow in saline habitats. Provided that antioxidant properties are usually accompanied by antimicrobial activity, in this study we investigated the phytochemicals present in a hydromethanolic extract of
flowers and explored its antifungal potential. The main phytocompounds, identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, were: hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, 9-octadecenoic acid, 3-(3,4-dihydroxy-phenyl)-acrylic acid ethyl ester, and benzeneacetaldehyde. The antifungal activity of the extract and its main constituents-alone and in combination with chitosan oligomers-was tested against six pathogenic taxa associated with soil-borne diseases of plant hosts in the family Cucurbitaceae:
,
f. sp.
,
,
,
, and
. In in vitro tests, EC
effective concentrations in the 166-865 μg·mL
range were obtained for the chitosan oligomers-
extract conjugate complexes, lower than those obtained for fosetyl-Al and azoxystrobin synthetic fungicides tested for comparison purposes, and even outperforming mancozeb against
. In ex situ tests against
conducted on artificially inoculated cucumber slices, full protection was achieved at a dose of 250 μg·mL
. Thus, the reported results support the valorization of
as a source of biorationals for Cucurbitaceae pathogens protection, suitable for both organic and conventional agriculture.