Nematotoxicity of Paeonia spp. Extracts and Camellia oleifera Tea Seed Cake and Extracts to Heterodera glycines and Meloidogyne incognita

Tea-oil camellia (Camellia oleifera) is grown for tea seed oil production, with tea seed cake produced as a byproduct. Rather than disposing of the cake, agricultural uses increase the value of oil production. Constituents of C. oleifera are also utilized for traditional Chinese medicine, as are compounds produced by tree peony roots. Consequently, the unused C. oleifera cake, and stems from two tree peony species, Paeonia rockii and Paeonia suffruticosa, were studied for compounds antagonistic to soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines) and root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita). Extracts from C. oleifera cake and P. rockii stems suppressed hatch and were nematotoxic to second-stage juveniles (J2) of both nematode species. P. rockii extracts were more effective than P. suffruticosa extracts for decreasing M. incognita hatch and J2 viability. In greenhouse trials with soybean (Glycine max ‘Essex’), powdered C. oleifera cake applied as a soil amendment suppressed H. glycines cysts/g root by up to 66% compared with nonamended controls. These results indicate that the extracts and cake contain compounds active against H. glycines and M. incognita, with activity varying between the two Paeonia species. C. oleifera tea seed cake, and constituents of the cake or of P. rockii, are candidates for further studies on management of these nematodes.