Isothiocyanate Derivatives of Glucosinolates as Efficient Natural Fungicides

Abstract

Fungal pathogens on crops account for losses that exceed US$200 billion annually. At present, chemical fungicides are widely used in the agricultural industry. Many of these products have a detrimental effect on human and animal health and are consequently forbidden postharvest, especially in Europe. Despite efforts to develop natural crop protection, very few have been commercialized. We explored the physicochemical characteristics of (i) glucosinolate derivatives from the present study and previously published papers in the light of their known biological roles and (ii) fungitoxic glucosinolate derivatives compared with natural and chemical fungicides. We found that 13 out of 31 tested natural and semisynthetic isothiocyanates are efficient fungicides against widespread species of plant pathogens alone and in a synergistic manner. Interestingly, physicochemical characteristics of fungitoxic glucosinolate derivatives differ from those showing no activities or known for their insecticidal or insect-attractive properties. The comparison of physicochemical characteristics of natural and semisynthetic fungitoxic glucosinolate derivatives with other fungicides (natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic) revealed that isothiocyanate glucosinolate derivatives clustered with nonglucosinolate derivatives plant fungicides as well as with some synthetic ones. Most of the fungicides show high bioaccumulation potential and lipophilic properties that most likely allow them to go through membranes.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .