History, presence and perspective of using plant extracts as commercial botanical insecticides and farm products for protection against insects – a review

Abstract

Botanical insecticides keep attracting more attention from environmental and small farmers worldwide as they are considered as a suitable alternative to synthetic insecticides. The use of secondary metabolites in a defensive manner isolated from plants is a tradition more than 3000 years old. However, despite current intensive research, the assortment of suitable commercial products is very limited and insufficient in view of the global rise in the demand for biopesticides. Farm products as well as new basic substances offer an important perspective of being widely used in the protection against harmful insects due to their multiple undoubted benefits. These benefits, which are also drawbacks of botanical insecticides, as well as their history in addition to their presence and perspective are critically reviewed in this paper.