Potential use of Origanum vulgare in agricultural pest management control: a systematic review

Development of innovative botanical biopesticides is currently one of the most investigated areas, partly owing to their consideration as eco-friendly practice. Indeed, there are many different plants that have been proven to have pesticidal properties. One of these plants is Origanum vulgare L., that has been reported to have several bioactive activities including antibacterial, antifungal, insecticidal, antiviral, and antiacarian properties. This activity is due to the richness of essential oil and different extracts of this plant in volatile and non-volatile phenolic compounds. This review describes the activities of O. vulgare against some agricultural pests. This research was conducted using the following databases: Scopus, Springer, PubMed and ScienceDirect. In total 6346 articles were identified but just 83 from theme met the included criteria and were included in this review. For bacteria, nematodes, and mites, all of these experiments were completed in the laboratory, while no field research has been carried out. For insects, among the 33 studies, only one was carried out both in the laboratory and in the field. For fungi, 31% of studies have been executed under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Most of the articles in this review (more than 90%) aimed to analyze the effect of O. vulgare essential oil. The pesticidal properties of this plant make it an effective candidate for pest control in agriculture.