Nematicidal Activity from Extracts of Weeds Lysimachia arvensis and Ipomoea purpurea Against Nacobbus aberrans

Abstract

The false root-knot nematode, Nacobbus aberrans, is a major threat to Latin American agricultural soils, affecting high-demand crops and posing a potential risk to Europe. Alternatively, using weeds to develop botanical nematicides is a viable strategy given the large amount of available, unused biomass. This study researched the nematicidal potential of plant extracts from Lysimachia arvensis and Ipomoea purpurea, two greenhouse weeds from central Mexico, against N. aberrans. Examination 90 days post-infection revealed that exposure to the bioactive extract of I. purpurea reduced the galling index and the female population per gram of root (2.3 ± 0.6). Additionally, root J2 (2.3 ± 1.2), eggs (22.0 ± 3.5), and roots infected with J2–J4 showed no significant differences compared with the commercial control.