LETTER TO THE EDITOR

 

EFFECT OF ESSENTIAL OILS ON THE DEFENSE RESPONSE OF TOMATO PLANTS

 

EFECTO DE LOS ACEITES ECENCIALES SOBRE LA RESPUESTA DEFENSIVA DE PLANTAS DE TOMATE

 

Dear Sir.:

Essential oils are one of the three groups of botanical products that will have a significant impact on plant health in the next decade. Some of them behave as antimicrobials, nematicides, insecticides and even can act as growth promoters or inducers of resistance.

In order to determine the influence of essential oils and phospholipids on the response of plant defense, tomato seeds of the variety Amalia were coated before sowing and then, the specific activity of four enzyme systems related to plant defense were determined in both leaves and roots.

Although the values for all the enzymes studied were higher in the roots than in the leaves, no regular behavior of the oils on the enzyme activities was observed in any case and, in general, the values obtained for both leaves and roots were not statistically different from those obtained in the control used (water). However, the positive action of the oils on germination and plant growth had been evident in previous experiments. Given these results, we recommend to carry out experiments where alternative forms of application of the oils are used.

Sincerely yours,

 

 

Yailen Arias, Ivonne González, Belkis Peteira, Oriela Pino

Centro Nacional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (CENSA), Apartado 10, San José de las Lajas, La Habana, Cuba. Correo electrónico: [e-mail]