Nematicidal Activity of the Volatilome of Eruca sativa on Meloidogyne incognita

Research on new pesticides based on plant-extracts, aimed at the development of nontoxic formulates, has recently gained increased interest. This study investigated the use of the volatilome, of rucola (Eruca sativa) as a, powerful, natural nematicidal agent against the root knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita Analysis of the,composition of the volatilome, using GC-MS-SPME, showed that the compound (Z)-3-hexeuyl acetate was the most abundant, followed by (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol and erucin, with relative percentages of 22.7 +/- 1.6, 15.9 +/- 2.3, and 8.6 +/- 1.3, respectively, Testing of the nematicidal activity of rucola volatile compounds revealed that erucin, pentyl isothiocyanate; hexyl isothiocyanate, (E)-2-hexenal, 2-ethylfuran, and Methyl thiocyanate were the most active with EC50 values of 3.2 +/- 1.7, 11.1 +/- 5.0, 113 +/- 2.6, 15.0 +/- 3.3, 16,0 +/- 5.0, and 18.1 +/- 0.6 mg/L, respectively, after 24 h of incubation. Moreover, the nematicidal activity of fresh rucola used as soil amendant in a containerized culture of tomato decreased the nematode infection in a dose-response manner (EC50 20.03 mg/g) and plant growth was improved. On the basis of these results, E. sativa can be considered as a promising companion plant in intercropping strategies for tomato growers to control root-knot nematodes.