Biocatalytic Amidation of Phenolic Acids and Their Antinemic Activity

摘要

Rice root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne graminicola (Golden and Birchfield) is becoming one of the important constraints in rice production, especially under upland conditions and nurseries in well drained soils (Rao etal.,1986) world over. In India, M. graminicola has been reported infecting rice in different parts of India namely, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Orissa, Kerala, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh (Prasad et. al,1987) . In a greenhouse experiment this nematode resulted in more than 17% reduction in rice yield and this might go as high as 80% (Soriano etal., 2000). Plants interact with their environment through secondary metabolism. Within this part of the metabolism, the phenylpropanoid pathway is of critical importance as its products (phenolic compounds) protect the plants against abiotic and biotic factors (Ohri & Kaur, 2010). Phenolic acids have also been involved in plant defence and have strong potentialagainst plant parasitic nematodes (Pankaj et al., 2005; Annigeri et al., 2009). An environment friendly method for the one-step conversion of carboxylic acids to corresponding amides (in bulk) without the use of any activating agents and solvents is very much desirable.