Plant bioactive metabolites for cereal protection against fungal pathogens

Abstract

The yield, the quality, and the nutritional safety of cereals can be seriously affected by the development, both in the field and during storage, of fungi that can produce several classes of mycotoxins, characterized by strong negative effects on the human and animal's health. For the diseases control, modern strategies include the development of cereal resistant varieties obtained through classical or innovative breeding strategies, together with the application of biological agents and new "green" chemicals as pesticide. To this purpose, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants are a source of natural products useful in "environmental-friendly" organic and conventional farming. This chapter reviews the wide range of essential oils (EOs) and natural compounds that have been demonstrated to have fungicide and fungistatic effects against mycotoxigenic fungi of cereals. It also addresses their mechanisms of action against fungi and their impact on plants tissues both at cellular and molecular levels.