Antioxidative activities in coconut cultivar against the infestation of Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier)
2018
Norhayati Yusuf | Nur Nassihah Mohd. Nasir | Wahizatul Afzan Azmi | Hazlina Ahamad Zakeri
The Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier is a pest which targets coconut palms in Malaysia. The RPW-coconut interaction leads to a toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS), predominantly hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide radicals (), thus activating its protective antioxidant system. This study looks at the catalase; CAT, ascorbate peroxidase; APX and guaiacol peroxidase; g-POD specific activities as well as ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, and carotenoids content in the most commonly planted coconut cultivar, MATAG. Fourteen months old MATAG plants were infested with RPW for 28 days. The antioxidant assays were carried out at 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of infestation at upper and lower parts of the stem. The CAT activities were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the upper part of infested coconuts (11.72 ± 0.78 units/mg protein) compared with its control (1.68 ± 0.55 units/mg protein), especially at 7 days of treatment. G-POD specific activities were also significantly higher (p<0.05) in the upper part of infested coconuts (484.12 ± 31.30 units/mg protein) compared with its control (160.21 ± 47.58 units/mg protein). In contrast, APX specific activities were induced to 46.94 ± 2.26 units/mg protein, especially at 14 days of infestation at the lower part whereas the APX activities were slowly increased at the upper part of stem. The RPW infestation managed to significantly increase (p<0.05) the carotenoids content in infested MATAG whereas there were no significant changes in ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol in infested and control plants. This study revealed that different antioxidants have different role in combating the oxidative stress induced by RPW in MATAG cultivar.
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