From Waste to Defense: Agro-Industrial Byproducts as Sources of Biopesticides and Bioelicitors for Crop Protection

The intensification of agro-industrial production has led to a heavy reliance on chemical pesticides, raising significant environmental and health concerns. Sustainable alternatives can be found in the plant kingdom, which employs complex defense mechanisms against pests and phytopathogens, including the biosynthesis and release of antimicrobial and immune elicitor compounds. However, the increasing demand for plant-based foods limits their extraction and commercial use. Agro-industrial factories generate large amounts of underutilized plant-based waste, whose management poses significant challenges. Agro-industrial byproducts accumulate high concentrations of bioactive molecules that are retrieved through green extraction methods that show promising results for controlling pests and phytopathogens. The repurposing of plant-based agro-industrial byproducts for biopesticides and vaccines for plant development can offer crucial help in the implementation of the circular economy, resilient agricultural systems, and sustainable crop protection.