Chemical Constitutions and Antioxidant Activities of Tomato Leaf Extracts

Extracts of tomatoes and potatoes as biopesticides: a review

Pest control is crucial to protect animals and plants in the agriculture industry. Biopesticides, because of being environmentally friendly and renewable, have attracted more attention in recent years. Nonetheless, due to costs, issues with controlling pests across various agricultural methods, and supplementary obstacles, biopesticides constitute a minor portion of the worldwide market for crop protection. Agricultural products like tomatoes and potatoes stand as examples of Solanaceae, a significant plant family with numerous economically vital species. From 2022 to 2027, the tomato market is anticipated to have a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.6%. Likewise, the worldwide market size for potato starch is predicted to attain a value of $4.9 billion with a market growth of 3.5% CAGR by 2027. After harvest, tomato and potato by-products such as leaves, peels, stems, and so on are generated as by-products, but they have not been effectively utilized. Recent research studies show that extract of the byproducts contains components such as glycoalkaloids, flavonoids, additional phenolics, ketones, and so on, which can be used as biopesticides. For proper pest control and utilization of the by-products in agriculture and related industries, this paper provides a review of recent progress on the research of the active components in the extracts of agricultural by-products of tomato and potato, their roles for pest control, extraction methods, challenges, its future development, and more.

Bioformulation development via valorizing silica-rich spent mushroom substrate with Trichoderma asperellum for plant nutrient and disease management

The present investigation was performed to valorize paddy straw (PS) based silica (Si) rich Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS) of Pleurotus ostreatus for Plant Nutrient and Disease Management in wilt (caused by F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici) susceptible tomato plant F1 Hybrid King 180. Raw PS and SMS generated by P. ostreatus cultivated on PS only, and PS amended with 5% soybean cake (SC) were bio-fortified with Trichoderma asperellum (TA). SMS (PS+ 5% SC) was found supporting the growth of T. asperellum to an extent of 12.37 × 10¹³ conidia/g substrate. GC-MS analysis of SMS detected several bioactive metabolites like Palmitic acid, Oleic acid, Methyl linoleate, Stigmasterol, etc., known for plant health management. Bioformulations were developed employing Press Mud (PM) and Talcum Powder (TP) as carrier materials. Among the different bioformulations tested in pots study; SMS (PS+ 5% SC) SiTAPM, collectively named as TF-I, provided improved levels of morpho-biochemical and nutritional parameters, i.e., Plant Biomass (2.27 folds), Root Volume (1.75 folds), Chlorophyll (2.66 folds), Carotenoids (2.42 folds), Number of Fruits (1.76 folds), Fruit Biomass (2.02 folds), Total Soluble Sugars (2.32 folds), Total Soluble Proteins (1.70 folds), and nutraceutical parameters as Lycopene (1.42 folds), β-carotene (2.65 folds) and Ascorbic Acid (1.54 folds), along with significant (p < 0.05) reduction in the Disease Severity Index (84.34%-21.23%), over the pathogen affected plant taken as control. The fruits and leaves garnered under TF-I displayed Total Polyphenol Content (TPC) of 74.5 and 126.9 mg g^-1 gallic acid, respectively, with 83.73% DPPH and 72.25% FRAP activity, indicating the elicitation of antioxidant properties in tomato fruits. EDS analyses showed 21.53% Si in SMS, and plant mapping investigation indicated a substantial accumulation of Si, which is well conceded to promote growth, disease resistance, and antioxidant parameters. The study also endorsed the use of PM over TP, as TF-I recorded an acceptable conidial count (2.22 × 10⁸ cfu/g) towards the end of six months storage period over other bioformulations. Overall, the study envisages the development and application of innovative methodology (TF-I), offering an eco-friendly alternative for producing quality crops and a sustainable solution to waste management, thus delivering a holistic contribution towards the circular economy.

Acute and Subacute Toxicity Profiles of the Methanol Extract of Lycopersicon esculentum L. Leaves (Tomato), a Botanical with Promising In Vitro Anticancer Potential

Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) is a plant widely used in Africa like food and to solve many health problems. The methanol crude extract of tomato recently demonstrated a good antiproliferative effect on many human cancer cell lines. The aim of this research was to evaluate the acute toxicity and subacute oral toxicity of methanolic extract from leaves of this plant. These toxicities were evaluated based on the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) guidelines. The assay of acute toxicity was performed using a total of 3 female rats, which received a single dose of 5000 mg/kg of methanolic extract via oral gavage. For the subacute toxicity study, 32 Wistar rats (males and females) were used. The groups were treated with three different doses of Lycopersicon esculentum methanolic extract (250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg b.w.) for 28 days and the control group received distilled water. The hematological, biochemical, and histopathological studies were performed after the sacrifice. Single dose of tomato extract caused no toxicity up to a dose of 5000 mg/kg body weight; hence, the median lethal dose (DL₅₀) of leaves of this plant was greater than this value. However, lower toxic effects could be manifested in the long-term treatment at the highest dose (1000 mg/kg) because urea level and total serum proteins significantly increased at a dose of 1000 mg/kg with respect to control. The microscopic observation showed no remarkable pathological changes on all organs in the treated groups compared with the control groups of female and male rats. These results demonstrate that single dose of tomato extract leaves is relatively nontoxic at a dose of 5000 mg/kg b.w. and prolonged use of lower doses (250 and 500 mg/kg) of L. esculentum orally should be encouraged, whereas highest dose (1000 mg/kg) should be avoided.