Natural plant protection products (known as biopesticides), derived from natural materials (plants, bacterial strains, and certain minerals) that can be used to control pests, are an alternative to plant protection chemicals (known as pesticides) due to certain advantages: less toxic to humans and the environment, no release/leaching of harmful residues, and usually much specific to the target pests. This review focuses on the systematization of information highlighting the main advantages related to the natural plant protection products used, the extractive methods of obtaining them, their physical-chemical analysis methodology, the specific constituents responsible for their pesticide effects, the mechanisms of action, and methods for direct application on vegetable crops or on seeds stored in warehouses, in order to eliminate the adverse effects occurred in the case of plant protection chemicals use. Special attention has been accorded to natural plant protection products from the spontaneous flora of Moldova (Romania’s macroeconomic region NE), which can be considered a resource of valuable secondary metabolites, especially in the form of vegetable essential oils, with biological effects and biopesticide routes of action. All presented information concludes that biopesticides can successfully replace the chemical plant protection products on small farms and especially in silos (seeds and cereals).

Accelerating heavy metal pollution is a hot issue due to a continuous growth in consumerism and increased activities in various global industries. Soil contamination with heavy metals has resulted in their incorporation into the human food web via plant components. Accumulation and amplification of heavy metals in human tissues through the consumption of medicinal plants can have hazardous health outcomes. Therefore, in this critical review we aim to bring together published information on this subject, with a special highlight on the knowledge gaps related to heavy metal stress in medicinal plants, their responses, and human health related risks. In this respect, this review outlines the key contamination sources of heavy metals in plants, as well as the absorption, mobilization and translocation of metal ions in plant compartments, while considering their respective mechanisms of detoxification. In addition, this literature review attempts to highlight how stress and defensive strategies operate in plants, pointing out the main stressors, either biotic or abiotic (e.g., heavy metals), and the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in stress answers. Finally, in our research, we further aim to capture the risks caused by heavy metals in medicinal plants to human health through the assessment of both a hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI).

Two classical methods were applied for preparation of four plant extracts, i.e. heat reflux extraction and maceration, exactly for wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), oregano (Origanum vulgare) and primrose (Primula veris), plants from the spontaneous flora of Moldova area (Romania). The prepared extracts were preliminarily characterized by some known physical-chemical analytical methods used to evaluate various quality indicators of plant extracts (e.g. total polyphenols and flavonoids concentrations, density, viscosity) as well as comparative analysis of their UV-Vis and FTIR spectra. These vegetal extracts are non-toxic, and may have insecticide effect on the field of agricultural culture and storage pests.

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the application of different plant extracts with bioinsecticidal action and antioxidant activity for plants and soil protection, by substitution of the application of synthetically formulated pesticides with eco-friendly compounds. In this framework, this research focused on the utilization of plant extracts from the spontaneous flora of Moldova (Romania) as bioinsecticides for the control of field pests of the species Leptinotarsa decemlineata and their antioxidant activity. Plant extracts of oregano (Origanum vulgare), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), and cowslip (Primula veris) were assessed for their antioxidant activity by the microplate spectrophotometric-based method (for polyphenols and flavonoids content and for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenger activity) and were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy spectra. To evaluate the bioinsecticidal properties of the plant extracts, the mortality (%) and neuroleptic manifestations appearing in the middle of the monitoring period for larvae and adults of the Leptinotarsa decemlineata species were identified. Mortality (%) was statistically analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the resulting experimental results were compared with the LSD-Fisher’s test (p < 0.05). The highest mortality (%) was observed after 24 h of treatment with extracts of Origanum vulgare at 100% concentration, while the maximum effect was recorded after 48 h for Origanum vulgare at 60% and 100% concentrations.

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