Plant Metabolites in Plant Defense Against Pathogens

Abstract

Medicinal plants are widely used worldwide to treat various diseases. Its widespread use is due in part to the cultural acceptance of traditional medicine in different regions of the world, as well as its effectiveness in treating various diseases. Many of its active substances or secondary metabolites are formed to a response of various situations that generate stress in their habitat, such as sudden changes in environmental temperature, humidity, rain, drought, and infections by phytopathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, protozoa). The production of these secondary metabolites is a mechanism of defense of plants. In this context, the objective of this chapter is to study the secondary metabolites of medicinal plants that could have a promising application in the control of different phytopathogens in crops of agricultural and economic interest.