Entrapment of antimicrobial compounds in a metal matrix for crop protection

Agricultural yields are often limited by damage caused by pathogenic microorganisms. Plant pathogenic bacteria are among the most important causal agents of plant diseases with almost all major crops being severely affected by one or more important bacterial diseases. While a large diversity of fungicides are available for management of plant diseases caused by fungi and oomycetes, the chemical control options to cope with bacterial diseases in agriculture are limited, and the strategies for their management are often inadequate. To date, chemical control of bacterial plant diseases in agriculture predominantly relies on copper (Cu)‐based bactericides, these compounds, however, possess limited efficacy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel technologies to manage bacterial plant diseases and reduce food loss. In the present study, we developed an antimicrobial agent, based on a doping method, which enables the entrapment of small bioactive organic molecules within different metals. Since Cu-based bactericides are the most commonly used compounds to manage bacterial plant diseases in agriculture, copper was selected to serve as the metal matrix. The food preservative, lauroyl arginate ethyl ester (ethyl lauroyl arginate; LAE) and random antimicrobial peptide mixtures were chosen as potentials doped organic compounds. At continuation, we focused on LAE composites since our initial results showed that these composites had a strong in vitro antimicrobial activity towards a wide range of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. These composites were further characterized in terms of chemical properties and in planta assays demonstrated their potential for crop protection.