| This review covers the historical use of plant secondary metabolites in agricultural practices in Cuba and their potential in pest management. The Cuban flora has not yet been fully studied as a source of pesticides, partly due to its great diversity. Nevertheless, up to date, several plants are used by Cuban farmers as repellents and/or as raw material for the preparation of botanical pesticides in an artisan manner, and more than 60 plants have demonstrated their pesticidal activity under laboratory, semicontrolled and field conditions. Meliaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae, Clusiaceae, Piperaceae, Lamiaceae, Apiaceae, and Mirtaceae are among the most important involved plant families. From the chemical point of view, promising results have been... |
