Plant-parasitic nematodes, or PPNs, cause significant losses in commercial
crops all over the world. Research efforts should be directed toward developing safe
and cost-effective control mechanisms due to the health and environmental risks
associated with the use of chemical nematicides. An essential component of these
initiatives is the wise exploitation of plant-PPN interaction. As research progresses,
naturally occurring phytochemicals that are hostile to other nematodes and plant
parasites have been discovered. Plants produce a wide range of secondary metabolites
that play an excellent role in plant protection. Polythienyls, glucosinolates,
isothiocyanates, glycosides, alkaloids, lipids, terpenoids, steroids, triterpenoids,
phenolics, and several other classes have been produced by higher plants. This chapter
provides insights into the phyto-nematode interactions and production of anti-nematode
phytochemicals to protect them from PPNs. Despite being unprofitable in many cases
right now, the use of phytochemicals in agriculture has a lot of potential for the future.
Keywords: Alkaloids, Giant cells, Glucoraphanin, Hypersensitivity, Juveniles, Metabolites, Multienzyme, Nematodes, Nematicidal, Plant-parasitic, Resistance, Rhizosphere, Secondary, Stylets, Susceptibility.
