Quantitative analysis of biochemical traits in cucurbits and their association with field resistance to insect pests
Abstract
Developing sustainable pest management strategies that reduce reliance on synthetic pesticides requires an understanding of the complex interactions between plant biochemistry and pest response. This study aimed to evaluate the biochemical composition of six cucurbitaceous plant species, cucumber, pumpkin, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, squash, and sponge gourd, by analyzing their moisture, ash, protein, fat, and fiber content and investigating potential correlations between these biochemical factors and insect pest infestation, specifically Aulacophora foveicollis L. and Bactrocera cucurbitae C. populations. Field experiments revealed that A. foveicollis primarily preferred sponge gourd as its host, while bitter gourd remained uninfested. In contrast, B. cucurbitae exhibited a preference for bitter gourd among the tested cucurbitaceous species. Proximate analysis showed that cucumber had the highest moisture content (94.50%), while pumpkin had the highest ash content (0.80%). Squash contained the highest crude protein (1.80%), whereas bitter gourd had the highest crude fiber (1.04%). The highest crude fat content (0.63%) was recorded in pumpkin. Correlation analysis indicated that A. foveicollis was positively correlated with moisture, fat, and protein but negatively correlated with fiber and ash. Similarly, B. cucurbitae showed a positive correlation with moisture and protein but a negative correlation with fat, fiber, and ash. This study concludes that cucurbits exhibit varying levels of susceptibility to insect pests, and infestation can be influenced by the biochemical composition of the plant. These findings highlight the importance of understanding plant biochemistry for developing effective pest management strategies.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abbas, M., Hussain, D., Saleem, M., Ghaffar, A., Abbas, S., Hussain, N., Ghaffar, A., 2021. Integrated pest management of guava, citrus and mango fruit flies at three districts of Punjab. Pakistan Journal of Zoology 53(3), 995.
Abd El-Karim, H.S., Rizk, M.A., Mohamed, I.A., 2024. Biochemical and morphological characteristics of leaves and their relation with infestation of selective piercing-sucking pests on cucumber (Cucumis sativus), okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and eggplant (Solanum melongena). International Journal of Agriculture and Biology 31(5) 383-392.
AACC., 2004. Approved methods of the American Association of Cereal Chemists, 10th Ed. Method 26-10A, 26-95, 30-10, 39-11, 44-11, 54-21, and 56-81B. The Association: St. Paul, MN.
AOAC., 1990. Official methods of analysis, Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, D.C., USA. 15th Edition, pp. 807-928.
Ahmad, M.H., Afzal, M., Ullah, M.I., Mehmood, N., Ali, S., Arshad, M., Raza. A.B.M., 2020. Feeding preferences of red pumpkin beetle, Aulacophora foveicollis Lucas (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) on different cucurbit cultivars. Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences 13(02), 295-303.
Ajuru, M., Nmom. F., 2017. A review on the economic uses of species of Cucurbitaceae and their sustainability in Nigeria. Advanced Journal Of Plant Biotechnology 2(01), 17-24.
Akdura, N., Culal-Kilic. H., 2022. Molecular characterizations of cucumber mosaic virus and tomato mosaic virus isolates in Hakkari Turkey. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin 31(08), 8993-9004.
Barma, P., Jha. S., Banerjee. S., 2013. Prediction of population development of melon fruit fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae Coq.) on pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.). African Journal of Agricultural Research 8(38), 4740-4747.
Baloglu, M.C., 2018. Genomics of cucurbits. In Rout GR, Peter KV (eds) genetic engineering of horticultural crops. Academic Press, pp. 413-432.
CABI., 2020. Invasive species compendium, datasheet report for Bactrocera cucurbitae (melon fly). https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheetreport/17683
Chunduri, J.R., 2013. Antioxidant and nutritional analysis of edible cucurbitaceae vegetables of India. International Journal of Biology 2(08), 1124-1129.
Chy, F.K., Sarkar, S.K., Islam, M.K., Nurul. A., 2011. Nutrient and phytochemical analysis of four varieties of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) grown in Chittagong hill tracts, Bangladesh. Asian Journal of Agricultural Research 5(03), 186-193.
Dhillon, N.P., Sanguansil, S., Singh, S.P., Masud, M.A.T., Kumar, P., Bharathi, L.K., McCreight. J.D., 2017. Gourds: bitter, bottle, wax, snake, sponge and ridge. Genetics and Genomics of Cucurbitaceae 155-172.
Fahad, S., Saud, S., Akhter, A., Bajwa, A.A., Hassan, S., Battaglia, M., Irshad. I., 2021. Bio-based integrated pest management in rice: An agro-ecosystems friendly approach for agricultural sustainability. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences 20(02), 94-102.
Fedha, M.S., Mwasaru, M.A., Njoroge, C.K., Ojijo, N.O., Ouma. G.O., 2010. Effect of drying on selected proximate composition of fresh and processed fruits and seeds of two pumpkin species. Agriculture and Biology Journal of North America 1(06), 1299-1302.
Gaddanakeri, S., Rolania, K., 2020. Biology and morphometrics of melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae Coquillett on bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L). Journal of Entomological and Zoological Society 8(05), 994-998.
Gurjar, M.K., Jat, B.L., Choudhary, P., Nayak. R.K., 2022. Screening of bottle gourd genotypes/varieties for resistance against red pumpkin beetle Raphidopalpa foveicollis (Lucas) in semi-arid region of Rajasthan. Indian Journal of Ecology 49(05), 1773-1781.
Grumet, R., McCreight, J.D., McGregor, C., Weng, Y., Mazourek, M., Reitsma, K., Fei. Z., 2021. Genetic resources and vulnerabilities of major cucurbit crops. Genes 12(08), 1222.
Hafsi, A., Abbes, K., Harbi, A., Ben-Othmen, S., Limem, E., Elimem, E., Ksantini, M., Chermiti, B., 2015. The pumpkin fly Dacus frontalis (Diptera: Tephritidae): A new pest of cucurbits in Tunisia. Bulletin 45(02), 209-213.
He, S., 2023. Complex ecological, physiological, and genetic analysis of the response of Cucurbita genus representatives to salt stress. Review of the official opponent for PhD thesis of He Songtao by Pavlo Pyasrenko 10(101), 1-5.
Hendrichs, J., Vreysen, M.J.B., Enkerlin, W.R., Cayol. J.P., 2021. Strategic options in using sterile insects for area-wide integrated pest management. In Sterile insect technique CRC Press (841-884).
Haldhar, S.M., Berwal, M.K., Samadia, D.K., Kumar, R., Gora, J.S., Choudhary, S., 2018. Biochemical basis of plant-insect interaction in arid horticulture crops: a scientific review. Journal of Agriculture and Ecology 6, 1-16.
Haldhar, S.M., Kumar, R., Corrado, G., Berwal, M.K., Gora, J.S., Thaochan, N., Basile, B., 2022. A field screening of a pomegranate (Punica granatum) ex-situ germplasm collection for resistance against the false spider mite (Tenuipalpus punicae). Agriculture 12(10), 1686.
Haldhar, S.M., Bhargava, R., Choudhary, B.R., Pal, G., Kumar, S., 2013. Allelochemical resistance traits of muskmelon (Cucumis melo) against the fruit fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae) in a hot arid region of India. Phytoparasitica 41, 473-481.
Karban, R., 2011. The ecology and evolution of induced resistance against herbivores. Functional Ecology 25, 339-347.
Kubar, M.I., Khoso, F.N., Khatri, I., Khuhro, N.H., Gilal. A.A., 2021. Effect of different management strategies on melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett), infestation in cucurbit vegetables. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture 37, 915-920.
Kaur, R., Gupta A.K., Taggar, G.K., 2015. Induced resistance by oxidative shifts in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) following Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) herbivory. Pest Management Science 71, 770-782.
Khan, L., Shah, M., Usman, A., 2015. Host preference of red pumpkin beetle (Aulacophora faveicollis) Lucas (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) among different Cucurbits. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 3(2), 100-104.
Kariyat, R.R, Balogh, C.M., Moraski, R.P., De Moraes, C.M., Mescher, M.C., Stephenson. A.G., 2013. Constitutive and herbivore-induced structural defenses are compromised by inbreeding in Solanum carolinense (Solanaceae). Journal of Botany 100, 1014-1021.
Li, Y., Fan, H., Si, Y., Guo, Y., Wu, Z., Du C., 2023. The phloem lectin PP2-A1 enhances aphid resistance by affecting aphid behavior and maintaining ROS homeostasis in cucumber plants. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 229, 432-442.
Manoj, A., Sridharan, M., Mohan, S., Awasthi, Nikita, S., 2017. Varying infestation of fruit fly, Bactrocera Cucurbitae (Coquillett) in different cucurbit crops. Journal of Entomological and Zoological Society 5 (03), 1419-1421.
Mondal, B., Mondal, C.K., Mondal, P., Mondal, B., Mondal, C.K., Mondal, P., 2020. Insect pests and non-insect pests of cucurbits. Stresses of cucurbits: status and management. 47-113.
Pilania, S., Yadav, S.S., Rolania, K., Kumar, R., Indora, J., Kumar, A., 2021. Assessment of avoidable yield losses in bitter gourd due to melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett). Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 9(02), 396-398.
Piñero, J.C., Quinn, J., Byers, P., Miller, P., Baker, T., Trinklein, D., 2015. Knowledge and use of integrated pest management by underserved producers in Missouri and the role of extension. Journal of Extension Education 53(3), 17.
Rai, A.B., Halder, J., Kodandaram, M.H., 2014. Emerging insect pest problems in vegetable crops and their management in India: An appraisal. Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems 20(02), 113-122.
Regmi, S., Paudel, M., 2020. A review on host preference, damage severity and integrated pest management of red pumpkin beetle. Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 3, 16-20.
Saljoqi, A.U.R., Khan, S., 2007. Relative abundance of the red pumpkin beetle, Aulacophora foveicollis, on different cucurbitaceous vegetables. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture 23(01), 109-114.
Sajeevan, R.S., Abdelmeguid, I., Saripella G.V., 2023. Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of different potato cultivars provides insight into early blight disease caused by Alternaria solani. BMC Plant Biology 23, 130-135.
Siddiqui, J.A., Fan, R., Naz, H., Bamisile, B.S., Hafeez, M., Ghani, M.I., Chen, X., 2023. Insights into insecticide-resistance mechanisms in invasive species: Challenges and control strategies. Frontier Physiology 13, 1112278.
Sapkota, S.N., Bollinger, L., Klinger, Y., Tapponnier, P., Gaudemer, Y., Tiwari, D., 2013. Primary surface ruptures of the great Himalayan earthquakes in 1934 and 1255. Nature Geoscience 6(1), 71-76.
Steel, R.G.D., Torrie, J.H., 1980. Principal and procedure of statistics; A biological approach. 2nd Ed. Mcgraw Hill book co. New York. p. 481.
Surender. K.S., Punam, A., Kumar, R., 2016. Management of fruit fly (Bactrocera spp.) in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) grown organically. Journal of Biopesticide 9 (01), 73-79.
Subedi, K., Regmi, R., Thapa, R.B., Tiwari S., 2021. Evaluation of net house and mulching effect on Cucurbit fruit fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae Coquillett) on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Journal of Agriculture Research 3, 100103.
War, A.R., Paulraj, M.G., Ahmad, T., Buhroo, A.A., Hussain, B., Ignacimuthu, S., Sharma, H.C., 2012. Mechanisms of plant defense against insect herbivores. Plant signaling & Behavior 7(10), 1306-1320.
Xue, W., Haynes, K.G., Clarke, C.R., Qu, X., 2022. Genetic dissection of early blight resistance in tetraploid potato. Frontiers in Plant Science 13, 851538.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33804/pp.009.01.5359
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.