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The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is a devastating pest that attacks a wide range of crops, including sugarcane, rice, and maize. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the toxicity potential of native plant extracts (Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus globulus, Parthenium hysterophorus, Cannabis sativa, Citrullus colocynthis, Nicotiana tabacum) against S. frugiperda. Four different concentrations (50, 100, 200, and 400 ppm) of the ethanolic plant extracts was evaluated against S. frugiperda third-instar larvae to determine their median lethal concentration (LC50). After 72 h of exposure, the LC50 values of A. indica, E. globulus, P. hysterophorus, C. sativa, C. colocynthis, N. tabacum, and positive control (Spinetoram) were 186.104, 518.438, 320.027, 334.259, 252.651, 720.980 and 189.369 ppm respectively. The maximum percent mortality was caused by the highest concentration (400 ppm) of A. indica (64 ± 0.18), E. globulus (48 ± 0.22), P. hysterophorus (56 ± 0.18), C. sativa (56 ± 0.18), C. colocynthis (60 ± 0.00), and N. tabacum (40 ± 0.28), after 72 h of treatment while Spinetoram induced 100 ± 0.00 percent mortality of S. frugiperda and only 4 ± 0.18 percent mortality was recorded in a control group. Results showed that all plant extracts were found to be effective against S. frugiperda. The compounds from the two most effective ethanolic plant extracts were identified by using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (GC-MS). The key compounds identified in neem leaf extract and kortuma fruit extract are predominantly biologically active molecules. Many of them were volatile compounds that belonged to different chemical categories, such as fatty acids, hydrocarbons, esters, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, and amines. Terpenes exhibited a wide range of different biological activities, such as serving as insecticides and antifeedant. The presence of various functional groups in the plant extract was determined by conducting a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Farmers should employ these kinds of environmental friendly insecticides to lessen the impact of fall armyworm because these products are cheaper to use and better for the economy and the environment.

Tamarindus indica, a beneficial herb, has many health benefits but there is limited research on its use in fish nutrition industry. The current study investigated the effects of incorporating extracts of T. indica into the canola meal-based diets of Cyprinus carpio (common carp); following which, the growth, digestibility, carcass and hematological markers were assessed. A total of six diets were formulated with varying concentrations of T. indica extracts (TIE) viz, 0 %, 0.5 %, 1 %, 1.5 %, 2 % and 2.5 %. The fish (N = 270, 15 fish/tank with triplicates) in each tank were fed experimental diets for 70 days. The study demonstrated that TIE supplementation significantly improved the growth of common carp when compared to 0 % TIE level (control). The best results were observed at 1 % TIE level for the specific growth rate (1.68 ± 0.03 %), weight gain (15.00 ± 0.57 g), and feed conversion ratio (1.36 ± 0.05). Conversely, the 2.5 % TIE level gave the least improvement in terms of growth performance. Specifically for nutrient digestibility, the maximum values of crude protein (CP, 67.60 ± 0.83 %), crude fat (CF, 67.49 ± 0.45 %) and gross energy (GE, 70.90 ± 0.56 %) were recorded at 1 % TIE level. In addition, the best results of body composition (protein: 63.92 ± 0.06 %, ash: 18.60 ± 0.03 %, fat: 7.12 ± 0.02 % and moisture: 10.36 ± 0.04 %) and hematological indices, were measured in carps fed with 1 % supplementation level. In conclusion, the overall health of C. carpio fingerlings was improved with TIE supplementation in the diet containing 1 % TIE.

Monoterpenoids are interesting hydrocarbons typically found in essential oils and have a significant role in medicinal and biological purposes. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of two monoterpenoids, carvacrol (CAR) and menthol (MEN), supplemented with Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) based diets on growth parameters, digestibility and body composition of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Alongside the basal diet (control-T1), nine experimental diets supplemented with categorized levels of CAR and MEN at 200, 300 and 400 mg/kg individually and their mixtures (MIX) (1:1) (CAR-T2, 200; T3, 300; T4, 400 mg/kg, MEN-T5, 200; T6, 300; T7, 400 mg/kg and MIX- (1:1) T8, 200; T9, 300; T10, 400 mg/kg) were fed to the fingerlings (6.55 ± 0.03 g) for the period of 60 days. Monoterpenoids supplementation led to significantly (p

High protein content, excellent amino acid profile, absence of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs), high digestibility and good palatability of fishmeal (FM), make it a major source of protein in aquaculture. Naturally derived FM is at risk due to an increase in its demand, unsustainable practices, and price. Thus, there is an urgent need to find affordable and suitable protein sources to replace FM. Plant protein sources are suitable due to their widespread availability and low cost. However, they contained certain ANFs, deficiency of some amino acids, low nutrient bioavailability and poor digestibility due to presence of starch and fiber. These unfavourable characteristics make them less suitable for feed as compared to FM. Thus, these potential challenges and limitations associated with various plant proteins have to be overcome by using different methods, i.e. enzymatic pretreatments, solvent extraction, heat treatments and fermentation, that are discussed briefly in this review. This review assessed the impacts of plant products on growth performance, body composition, flesh quality, changes in metabolic activities and immune response of fishes. To minimize the negative effects and to enhance nutritional value of plant products, beneficial functional additives such as citric acid, phytase and probiotics could be incorporated into the plant-based FM. Interestingly, these additives improve growth of fishes by increasing digestibility and nutrient utilization of plant based feeds. Overall, this review demonstrated that the substitution of fishmeal by plant protein sources is a plausible, technically-viable and practical option for sustainable aquaculture feed production.

The exploitation of natural products and their analogues in the field of pharmacology has been regarded as of great importance. It can be attributed to the fact that these scaffolds exhibit diverse chemical properties, distinct biological activities and zenith specificity in their biochemical processes, enabling them to act as favorable structures for lead compounds. The synthesis of natural products has been a crafty and hard-to-achieve task. Steglich esterification reaction has played a significant role in that area. It is a mild and efficient technique for constructing ester linkages. This technique involves the establishment of ester moiety via a carbodiimide-based condensation of a carboxylic acid with an alcohol, thiol or an amine catalyzed by dimethyl aminopyridine (DMAP). Specifically, labile reagents with multiple reactive sites are esterified efficiently with the classical and modified Steglich esterification conditions, which accounts for their synthetic utility. This review encloses the performance of the Steglich esterification reaction in forging the ester linkage for executing the total synthesis of natural products and their derivatives since 2018.