# Challenge of Utilization Vegetal Extracts as Natural Plant Protection Products
## 5 Bio-Insecticidal Action of Some Spontaneous Flora Species in Moldova (Romania)  
The region of Moldova in NE of Romania is characterized by a rich and diverse spontaneous flora, specific to subregions and growth location [35]. Environmental factors make a real mark on it, as confirmed by the particularity of growth (size, bloom, density) and the chemical composition of plants (leaves, flowers, stems or roots). The target spontaneous flora for bio-preparations are plant species considered to be aromatic or of medicinal interest. In this context, it is interesting the information reported by [PERSON] and his collaborators on the Romanian annual and perennial plants (herbaceae, trees, shrubs) [77]. They identified 64 species of native flora belonging to 21 botanical families that were studied for antimicrobial activity. Of these species, 28.1% are annual plants, 46.9% are perennial herbaceous plants and the rest (25%) are perennial woody species (shrubs and trees). Also, nearly 50% of the species belongs to the _Asteraceae_ and _Lamiaceae_ botanical families. From the point of view of properties that make them useful as plant protection products, antibacterial effects have been reported for 89% of species, and 57.8% of the species have shown antifungal activity [77]. [PERSON] et al. performed another comprehensive review of spontaneous flora of Romania with biomedical applications [41]. Among the traditional plants, they describe the extraction methods used to obtain _Heracleum spondylium_ (hogweed), _Anethum graveolens_ L. (dill), _Taraxacum officinalis_ L. and _Artium lappa_ L. (burdock) extracts, in various variants, especially maceration-percolation-decoction-infusion in association with the analytical techniques for the characterization of these extracts [41]. However, in the spontaneous flora, there are elements that can also have a biopesticide effect, belonging to extremely common botanical families: _Lamiaceae_, _Asteraceae_, _Primulaceae_, _Equistaceae_, _Hypericicaceae_, _Poligonaceae_, _Apiaceae_, etc., but the species that are parts of the Lamiaceae family numerically predominate. From this botanical family, there are 138 species known as medicinal, aromatic or mellifera plants in Romania. The most common of these are the mint, nettle, basil, sage, and thyme species, which have been sometimes used in popular agricultural practices to combat pests [46; 77; 78; 79; 80]. It is an increasing number of literature studies that highlight the bio-pesticide potential of plant extracts obtained from spontaneous or cultivated flora in Romania (Table 5). Numerous experimental studies have been reported on the composition of plant extracts from the spontaneous flora of Romania, as well as practice reports on the use of these plants extracts to combat the crops pest or grain stores and seeds. Thus, [PERSON] et al. studied the effect of nicotine hydroalcoholic extracts (from _Nicotiana tabacum_ and _Nicotiana rustica_), anabasina (from _Anabasis aphylla_), quasina (from _Quasina amara_), rotenone (from _Derris elliptica_), and pyrethrin (_Chrysanthenum cinerariafolium_, _Pyretrum coccine_) on Colorado beetle (_Leptinotarsa decemlineata_ Say.) [80]. [PERSON] et al. studied the efficacy of secondary metabolites extracted from native plants of the common fern (_Driopteris filix mas_), sage (_Salvia memorosa_), wormwood (_Artemisia dracunculus_, _A. vulgaris_, _A. absinthtium_), the wolf (_Aristolochia dematidis_), _Heracleum spondylium_, _Stachis sylvatica_, _Tanactum vulgare_, _Urtica dioica_, _Samucus ebulus_, and _Taxus bacatta_ on caterpillar (_Hyphantria cunea Drury_) (_F. Artidae-Lepidoptera_) under laboratory conditions [81]. [PERSON] et al.