A researcher from Université Laval is interested in the virtues of maple leaves in treating bacteria that affect certain crops, such as lettuce and strawberries.
Maples aren’t just used to sweeten the beak. Maxime Delisle-Houde, a post-doctoral fellow at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at Laval University, is closely investigating the antibacterial potential of these leaves.
“I became interested in it in a way, rather accidentally,” said Mr. Delisle-Houde.
There are few products on the market that target bacteria that are harmful to plants. Most of them contain copper, he explained.
If not used in good conditions, they are often the cause of necrosis on the leaves. Out of the desire to develop a new product without risk for humans, he became interested in the maple leaf.
“I tested a very wide range of plant extracts, almost a hundred, most of which are found in Canada. »
“I checked the extract’s inhibition of bacteria that affect lettuce cultivation. The zone of inhibition created by the sugar maple leaf extract was 5-10 times larger than almost any other extract I tested. »
active ingredient
Mr. Delisle-Houde continued his work during his PhD. He was able to split the sugar maple leaf extract into several parts, which he tested individually.
“We managed to identify the active ingredient that was mainly responsible for inhibiting bacterial growth. It’s an ellagitannin. »
Greenhouse trials are underway to validate the effectiveness of the treatment, which will be tested in the fields next summer.
“By the end of the year we should have the first results to be published,” he said.
“For the moment it remains provisional. I prefer not to go too far yet. »
raw material
Depending on the process, the leaves are collected and ground. They are mixed in ethanol to extract the active ingredient. Mr Delisle-Houde sees this as a marketing opportunity for spraying plants.
The leaves come from the Roger-Van den Hende Garden, but the supply of raw materials should not be a problem.
“In the future, we could envision collecting some of the leaves from the soil of maple syrup producers to make our extract in larger quantities,” he suggests.
Plant-damaging bacteria reduce the yield on the fields. Certain diseases also make the fruit inedible.
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