Plant-derived phenolic extractive products with herbicide and antifungal properties

Overview

This research focuses on developing new herbicide and antifungal extractive products derived from plant material rich in phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds are well known for their antimicrobial and allelopathic (plant-to-plant inhibitory) effects, making them promising candidates for sustainable crop protection and antifungal applications. By harnessing naturally occurring bioactive molecules, the work aims to deliver eco-friendly alternatives to conventional synthetic herbicides and antimicrobials while maintaining agricultural and therapeutic efficacy.

Technical specifications

The research program applies a suite of validated experimental models and analytical techniques:

• Extraction and chemical analysis: Optimization of phenolic compound extraction from plant material, followed by HPLC analysis for characterization of the chemical profile
• Phytotoxicity evaluation: Allelopathy assays to determine the limits and range of herbicidal activity
• Biocompatibility testing: Alternative animal models including Artemia salina (brine shrimp) lethality assay and Daphnia magna toxicity assay, alongside human cell cultures to evaluate bioselectivity and safety compared to phytotoxic doses
• Antimicrobial testing: Dedicated assays to confirm antifungal and broader antimicrobial effects
• Mechanistic investigation: Network pharmacology coupled with molecular docking, untargeted metabolomics, targeted gene expression analysis, and ELISA methods to elucidate the mode of action
• Quality controls: All assays incorporate negative (untreated vehicle) and positive (reference drug) controls, with emphasis on robustness, reproducibility, and sustainability across extraction, biological, and analytical procedures

Technology readiness level

The biological models and experimental protocols have been previously validated and published in peer-reviewed literature. Current activities focus on optimizing extraction yields, profiling phenolic content via HPLC, and benchmarking herbicidal and antimicrobial activity against reference compounds. Biocompatibility and mechanistic studies are ongoing using established alternative models and computational approaches. The project is at an early-to-intermediate R&D stage, with demonstrated assay validation but requiring further product formulation, scale-up, and field validation before commercial deployment.