Development of new bio-herbicides from natural amides

Abstract

Brazil is one of the world's dominant food-producing countries and agricultural frontiers are expanding about 5% per year advancing in critical areas of environmental protection. These facts have drawn global attention on the country's deforestation rates and raises questions about green label for sustainable production of Brazilian products. In addition, Brazil is the world's champion in pesticides consumption, despite this fact representing an increase in productivity, in the short term, due to the rapid development of weed resistance to the herbicides, the benefits obtained will be at risk. Furthermore, the contamination of ecosystems representing the gradual loss of biodiversity and the great threat to human health makes urgent the search for alternatives to these common herbicides in use. The main objective of this project is to develop an herbicide based on amides, isolated from plants, from the genus Piper that phytotoxic and allelopathic effects were observed in previous studies. This project also provides means to discover new targets of herbicidal activity. The synthesis of analogues will be approached for improving the physical-chemical parameters for use in the field and to obtain alternatives for rational and sustainable management. Among the large number of chemical compounds identified in the species of the Piperaceae family, amides have exhibited numerous biological activities. And in previous studies, the crude extract of the roots, rich in amides, of Piper tuberculatum, showed significant allelopathic activity. Considering these points, this project aims at the development of new bio-herbicides from compounds isolated from the Brazilian flora to add value to products originating from biodiversity. (AU)