Priscila do Nascimento Bezerra

By Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira, Wanessa Almeida da Costa, Priscila Nascimento Bezerra, Antonio Pedro da Silva Souza Filho and Raul Nunes de Carvalho Junior

The control of invasive plants is still carried out with the use of synthetic chemical agents that may present high toxicity and, consequently, be harmful to humans and animals. In Brazil, especially in the Amazon, small producers use this kind of technique in a rustic way, with brushcutters or fire. In this sense, the search for natural agents with bioherbicide potential becomes necessary. Examples of these agents are the essential oils that over the years have been shown to be a viable alternative to weed control. Thus, this review aims to show the potentially phytotoxic activity of allelochemicals present in essential oils of different aromatic plants.

Part of the book: Biological Approaches for Controlling Weeds

By Marielba de los Angeles Rodriguez Salazar, Glides Rafael Olivo Urbina, Priscila do Nascimento Bezerra, Vânia Maria Borges Cunha, Marcilene Paiva da Silva, Flávia Cristina Seabra Pires, Ana Paula de Souza e Silva, Sérgio Henrique Brabo de Sousa and Raul Nunes de Carvalho Jr

This chapter will describe the antioxidant and biological activity of Cissus sicyoides and Rosmarinus officinalis leaf extracts, which represent an important natural source of antioxidants. These plants contain several bioactive compounds with high antioxidant activity, such as phenolic compounds, which are compounds that prevent or delay oxidative stress, acting as free radical scavengers (FRSs), and thus reduce the onset of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, among other diseases. The supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has been studied to obtain antioxidant compounds from natural sources, without the drawbacks associated with conventional extraction processes, such as the use of organic solvents, which present toxicity and contaminate the extracts, is proposed.

Part of the book: Antioxidants

By Wanessa Almeida da Costa, Cinthya Elen Pereira de Lima, Sérgio Henrique Brabo de Sousa, Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira, Fernanda Wariss Figueiredo Bezerra, Jorddy Neves da Cruz, Sebastião Gomes Silva, Renato Macedo Cordeiro, Cintya Cordovil Rodrigues, Antônio Robson Batista de Carvalho, Priscila do Nascimento Bezerra, Pedro Alam de Araújo Sarges, Daniel Santiago Pereira, Antônio Pedro Silva de Souza Filho and Raul Nunes de Carvalho Junior

One of the main reasons for environmental disturbances such as declination in pasture productivity and biodiversity losses is the high infestation of herbaceous weeds, generally referred to as “Juquira” in the Amazon region. If they are not adequately controlled, such infestation might lead to degradation of pasture, resulting in complete loss of productivity and subsequent abandonment of the area. In this sense, this chapter aims to describe the main invasive species present in the Amazon region, as well as to characterize both the old and innovative techniques of use in agriculture, in large and small scale, for the control of agricultural pests.

Part of the book: Diversity and Ecology of Invasive Plants