1 Introduction

Lantana camara L. commonly known as wild sage or red sage, belonging to Verbenaceae family is a terrestrial, evergreen aromatic, ornamental or hedge shrub of 1–2 m height (Fig. 1). The woody shrubs have 4-sided stems with spines. The rough textured leaves have serrate margin and release a strong odour when crushed. Inflorescences are terminal with multi coloured flowers arranged in whorls on heads. The hard green fruits in clusters ripen to fleshy black drupes.

Fig. 1
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a A twig of L. camara, b A fruit bunch of L. camara

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Originating from Central and South America, this exotic species has completely naturalized itself in many parts of the world. It has the dubious record of being listed among the world’s 100 worst invasive species. This weed is introduced into India for horticultural purposes. Since then, this highly invasive weed has taken over the landscape in India, growing in thickets and encroaching waste lands, forests, wetlands and agriculture fields. It has been observed that L. camara invasions interrupt regeneration processes through allelopathic suppression of neighbouring plant species in Australia (Fan et al. 2010). L. camara has spread rapidly along the east coast of Australia. This weed is a menace in fertile as well as poor soils. Its seeds are disseminated widely by birds and have a high rate of germination. Moreover, L. camara is highly adaptable, thriving in wet as well as dry regions. This weed invades disturbed sites including edges and canopy breaks in dense forest communities, often growing as a dominant under storey species. A number of threat abatement strategies have been chalked out and priorities identified to tackle the invasion. Biological control methods have been met with limited success. Some environmentalists believe that this weed must be seen as biological resource. Vigorous research on utilitarian aspect of L. camara is warranted. The last decade witnessed extensive investigation on this abundant weed to unravel its therapeutic, industrial and agricultural values. This review reports the utilization potential of L. camara, published till date.

2 Phytochemistry of L. camara

A myriad of triterpenes, steroids and aminoacids have been isolated from L. camara (Yadav and Tripathi 2003). Barre et al. (1997) isolated a novel triterpene 22β–acetoxylantic acid and the known triterpene, 22β-dimethylacryloyloxylantanolic acid from this plant. L. camara root is a rich source of triterpenoid and oleanolic acid, the bioactive compound with immense therapeutic value. Along with oleanolic acid and its derivatives, lantadene A, camaric acid, β-sitosterol and its glucoside and pomonic acid, several unidentified complex mixture of triterpenoids have been isolated from L. camara root (Misra and Laatsch 2000). Siddiqui et al. (1995) isolated seven pentacyclic triterpeonoids, camarinic acid, camaric acid, oleanolic acid, pomolic acid, lantanolic acid, lantanilic acid and lantic acid from the aerial parts of L. camara. These oils are secondary metabolites, highly enriched in isoprene compounds. Srivastava et al. (2010) reported the accumulation of three pentacyclic triterpenoids, betulinic acid, oleanolic acid and ursolic acid, in cell cultures of L. camara using leaf disc explants. The leaves are rich in essential oils and phenolic compounds like aesulin, quercetin, isorhamnetine, fisetine, gossypetine, tricine and aesculetine and triterpenoids (Costa et al. 2010). Iridoid glycosides studied in L. camara are geniposide and genipin (Ghisalberti 2000). The leaves and stems of L. camara contain its major toxins, triterpenoids lantadene A or B. A new ursane is isolated from the leaves of L. camara and its structure elucidated as 3, 24-dioxo-urs-12-en-28-oic acid by means of spectral analysis (Yadav and Tripathi 2003). Its leaves yield sesquiterpenes rich essential oil (Misra and Laatsch 2000). Sousa et al. (2010) reported that bicyclogermacrene (19.42%), isocaryophyllene (16.70%), valecene (12.94%) and germacrene D (12.34%) are the main constituents of L. camara essential oil. Optimization of various extraction parameters using response surface methodology (RSM) has been performed to assess maximum yield of oleanolic acid from L. camara roots (Banik and Pandey 2008). Some active compounds of L.camara have been illustrated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2
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Bioactive compounds isolated form L. camara

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3 L. camara as a menace

Lantana invasion has several threatening aspects on many tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems. Allelopathic effect on crops, biodiversity loss, refugia of Tsetse flies and other menacing pests, teratogenic effect and toxicity to livestock are to name a few of these harmful impacts. The harmful aspects are presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Harmful effects of Lantana camara
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Ahmed et al. (2007) studied the growth inhibitory effects of aqueous extracts of L. camara L. on six popular agricultural crops of Bangladesh. Result showed different concentrations of the aqueous leaf extracts caused significant inhibitory effect on germination, root and shoot elongation and development of lateral roots of receptor crops.

Declining biodiversity is one of the most dramatic and irreversible aspects of biological invasions. As invaders L. camara significantly threaten native community diversity. L. camara can out-compete native plants because it can grow on nutritionally poor soils. L. camara flowers year-round and the large amounts of nectars it produce could attract potential pollinators. L. camara alters forest structure by replacing the native understorey species. The impact of L. camara is pervasive, with all major structural groups (i.e. ferns, herbs, shrubs, trees and vines) exhibiting significant species losses; however, the rate of species loss is relatively greater for tree and shrub species, signalling a shift in vegetation structure from tall open forest to low, dense L. camara dominated shrub land (Gooden et al. 2009). Aravind et al. (2010) studied that an increase in L. camara density is correlated with a decline in canopy birds and insectivores, suggesting that this weed affects the structure of the bird community by decreasing diversity. L. camara is very inflammable and aids in igniting fire in dry rainforest adjacent to savannas and areas of high conservation value (Berry et al. 2011).

L. camara bush act as shelter for tsetse fly (Glossina fuscipes) in this fly infested belt of Africa, playing menacing role in spreading sleeping sickness epidemics (Syed and Guerin 2004). Tsetse flies have conserved a strong sensitivity to volatile secondary products of vegetation, promoting their survival. Such cover is sought for longer in the day under adverse conditions of high temperature and low humidity. Satellite images have shown that vegetation cover and soil moisture are requisites for the maintenance of high fly numbers. Tse-tse flies possess receptor cells on their antennae for volatile end products of major biosynthetic and catabolic pathways of vegetation, which help them actively seek L. camara vegetation. In India, causative agent of malaria, the anopheles mosquitoes shelter in the bushes jeopardizing public health.

Rats treated orally with hydroalcoholic extract during the pregnancy and lactation period show developmental retardation of the skeleton in fetuses (Mello et al. 2005). The role of L. camara in causing maternal toxicity needs further investigation.

Toxicity studies of L. camara extract suggest that the toxic principles have depressive properties on central nervous system. After 2 days of treatment; only the apolar extract presented a dose-dependent increased lethality. At necropsy, mice treated by both apolar and polar extracts are severely icteric, dehydrated and constipated, with hepatosis, showed congested heart and lung and nephrosis (Bevilacqua et al. 2011). L. camara toxins, Lantadene A and B pose problem for ruminants feeding on them.

4 Biological control and management of L. camara

Many countries are grappling with invasive species problems. It is therefore of vital importance to implement effective biological control agents. Insect herbivory is expected to significantly reduce the weed population density. Flower feeder, seed feeder, root feeder, stem borer, leaf miner, stem galler, sap suckers can be employed to destroy different niches of the weed. Despite the biocontrol research spanning over 100 years, L. camara, is not under adequate control. Host specificity and varietal preference of released agents, climatic suitability of a region for released agents, number of agents introduced and range or area of infestation appear to play a role in limiting biocontrol success (Zalucki et al. 2007). Under semi-field conditions, cumulative herbivory by A root-feeding flea beetle, Longitarsus bethae adults and larvae during a 6-month period caused severe leaf and root damage of L. camara, resulting in a cumulative decline of 148% in flower production. Overall, the ability of L. bethae to both directly suppress root growth and indirectly suppress leaf production, stem growth and flower production of L. camara, indicates that this flea beetle has the potential to make a considerable impact on the weed’s invasiveness in South Africa (Simelane 2010). The petiole-galling weevil, Coelocephalapion camarae Kissinger when introduced in South Africa it supplemented the biological control programme against the invasive varieties of L. camara L. The adults are highly selective in their choice of leaf-petioles as their oviposition site and the emerging larvae burrow and disrupt the transport of water and nutrients to and from the leaf, causing it to desiccate. These studies suggest that C. camarae could make a valuable contribution to the biocontrol programme against L. camara (Baars et al. 2007). Salbia haemorrhoidalis and Hypena laceratalis are considered to significantly reduce the growth and reproductive rates of L. camara (Baars 2003). The L. camara mirid, Falconia intermedia (Distant), is a promising new agent imported from the Caribbean. The nymphs and adults are leaf-suckers that cause chlorotic speckling, which reduces the photosynthetic capacity of the plant. Biological studies indicate that F. intermedia has considerable biocontrol potential due to high intrinsic rate of increase, the potential for multiple generations (up to 7 a year), continuous egg production and nymphal development, highly mobile adults, and high levels of damage per individual. The regulatory authorities accepted the results of this study and F. intermedia is released against L. camara in South Africa in April 1999 (Baars et al. 2003). Fungus Corynespora cassiicola is found highly specific to L. camara, causing severe defoliation of plants under field conditions. A phytotoxic substance is present in the filtrate from germinated conidia of the fungus C. cassiicola with high potential as a biocontrol agent already tested in Brazil (Pereira et al. 2003). The amenability for mass production of C. cassiicola makes it a suitable candidate as a mycoherbicide. Saxena and Pandey (2002) confirmed the potential of an indigenous isolate of Alternaria alternata as a mycoherbicide for L. camara under specific environmental conditions. However, in many countries authorization for the release of biological control agents for invasive weeds as L. camara requires the consideration and evaluation of environmental impact and risk assessment reports.

L. camara cannot be eradicated by mechanical, biological or chemical means. Only, partial control of can be achieved by integrated approach. So, management through utilisation is the only sustainable option. Given that there are vast areas infested with this plant, it is reasonable to consider if large scale use could be made of its biomass and the phytochemicals. The possible uses of L. camara are presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Multipurpose utility of Lantana camara
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5 L. camara as a resource

5.1 Therapeutic potential

L. camara is used in traditional medicine as carminative, antiseptic, anthelmintic, insecticide, antispasmodic, appetizer and emetic (Yadav and Tripathi 2003). Various parts of the plant are used in the treatment of itches, cuts, ulcers, swellings, bilious fever, catarrh, eczema, dysentery, chest complaints of children, fistula, pustules, tumours, tetanus, malaria, rheumatism, toothache, cold, headache, uterine haemorrhage, chicken pox, eye injuries, tonic in abdominal pains, whooping cough, and arterial hypertension (Deena and Thoppil 2000). Also, this plant extract is used to treat fever, asthma, rheumatism, bronchitis and pulmonary ailments (Costa et al. 2010). Different parts of L. camara are considered to be antipyretic, antimalarial and diaphoretic (Randrianalijaona et al. 2005; Barreto et al. 2010).

The pharmaceutical potential of L. camara is now backed by scientific findings. Antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, hypolipidemic, antiulcerogenic, larvicidal, anticancer effect and use as reinforcement in biomaterials are some of the recently recognized therapeutic properties of L. camara. 22 fl-Acetoxylantic acid in L. camara showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi (Barre et al. 1997). The essential oil of L. camara showed a wide spectrum of antibacterial and antifungal activities remarkably inhibiting the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani and Candida albicans (Deena and Thoppil 2000). Sousa et al. (2010) successfully examined the antibacterial and modulatory activities of L. camara Linn against the multiresistant strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by microdilution test. For the first time, they reported the potentiation of aminoglycoside antibiotics effects by L. camara essential oil. The results suggest that the essential oil of this plant could be used as a source of phytochemical with resistance-modifying activity. Pentacyclic triterpenes from L. camara are attracting increasing attention for the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs (Sharma et al. 2000). Oyedapo et al. (2010) studied that both ethanol and ethyl acetate fractions of L. camara contained principles that protected the erythrocyte membranes effectively against induced lyses. On the basis of these results, it could be inferred that the extracts contain principles that possess ability to stabilize the biological membranes. The plant therefore could be regarded as a source of membrane stabilizer, capable of curing inflammatory related ailments. Geniposide and genipin showed hypolipidemic activity in hyperlipidemic rats (Ghisalberti 2000). The methanolic extract of L. camara leaves heal gastric ulcers and prevent development of duodenal ulcers in rats. The leaves also have antioxidant potential (Sathish et al. 2011). Costa et al. (2010) studied the larvicidal activity of L. camara extract against Aedes aegypti, the vector transmitting yellow fever. The essential oils extracted from the leaves of L. camara L. can control Culex pipiens, the vector of Japanese encephalitis and meningitis, as studied by Zoubiri and Baaliouamer (2011a). Egunyomi et al. (2010) studied the mosquito repellent activity of methanol extracts L. camara leaves. The average number of landings of malarial mosquito Anopheles stephensi on the treated guinea pigs lowered to 2.67 from 5 in control guinea pigs. This result justifies the use of L. camara extracts as repellents.

Lantadene A (LA, 22β -angeloyloxy-3-oxoolean-12-en-28-oic acid), a pentacyclic, triterpenoid isolated from the leaves of L. camara L. is evaluated for apoptosis induction in the human leukemia HL-60 cell line, using the MTT assay. The morphological effects of LA-treated HL-60 cancer cells are observed under a fluorescence microscope and the DNA fragmentation is observed using gel electrophoresis. Flow cytometry is carried out to observe changes in the cell cycle distribution of the cells. The expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in HL-60 cells is visualized by means of an immunohistochemical assay and cell viability is determined upon treatment with DEVD-CHO (inhibitor of caspase-3) and LA. The results indicated that LA induces efficient cell apoptosis by activating the caspase-3 pathway and through down- and up regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax expression, respectively (Sharma et al. 2007). LA is found to inhibit 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13 acetate (TPA)-induced Epstein-Barr virus activation in Raje cells and possess tumor inhibitory activity in a two-stage carcinogenesis model in mice. The mechanism of its antitumor activity is still unknown. Kaur et al. (2010) studied that LA and its methyl ester ameliorate the effects of DMBA/TPA induced skin carcinogenesis at transcription levels. An aqueous extract from callus cultures of L. camara has an apparent cytotoxic effect on HeLa cells. A dose-time dependent activity of the extract is established wherein higher dosage exhibited increased activity; however, over time cell necrosis is observed (Srivastava et al. 2009). The selective cytotoxic effects of the extract on cancerous HeLa cells demonstrate the potential of using in vitro plant cell cultures of L. camara to produce bioactive compounds. Gupta et al. (2010) studied that when oleanolic acid is converted into six semi-synthetic ester and seven amide derivatives, its cytotoxicity enhanced. The ester derivatives showed 3–6 times more selective activity against the human ovarian cancer cell line (IGR-OV-1), while amide derivatives showed 16–53 times more selective activity against the human lung cancer cell line (HOP-62). Though, the structure–function relationship is yet to be understood. L. camara fibre (LCF) has potential to be used as reinforcement in composite materials. Deo and Acharya (2010) reported that LCF can be bonded with resin to manufacture composites for tribo applications. The incorporation of LCF into epoxy can significantly reduce abrasive wear loss. Also, L. camara extract has exhibited its potential in healthcare of livestock dermatophilosis infection in cattle is an enzootic bacterial skin disease in tropical and subtropical countries. An ointment prepared with the leaf extracts of Senna alata, L. camara and Mitracarpus scaber showed healing effect on acute lesions of bovine dermatophilosis. The ointment when applied once a day for 8–15 days induced the falling off of the crusts after 3–4 days of treatment and hair grows without scarring and recurrence of the ailment. The concoction is effective compared to oxytetracycline, terramycin or procaine-penicillin therapy in preventing recurrence (Ali-Emmanuel et al. 2003).

5.2 Industrial potential

L. camara can be exploited for a plethora of industrial uses viz. stimulator of cellulase catalysis, α-cellulose as a source of carboxymethylcellulose, bioethanol and biogas production. A high molecular weight protein from L. camara leaf and petiole is purified and designated as cellulase stimulator for its ability to stimulate/activate Cuscuta reflexa cellulase catalysis. The purified protein exhibited activation effect on C. reflexa CM-cellulase, both in terms of saccharifying and liquefying activity (Chatterjee and Sanwal 1999). Utilization of its abundantly available cellulosic biomass as chemical feedstock could be a practical proposition for the management of this weed. The polymer, α-cellulose is isolated from this weed and its carboxymethylation is studied. Water soluble Na-CMC has a variety of applications in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications, especially due to its polyelectrolyte character (Varshney et al. 2006). L. camara seems to be a potential feedstock for production of α-cellulose and its subsequent functionalization into cellulose derivatives for diverse applications. Kumar et al. (2011) conducted graft copolymerization of acrylamide onto α-cellulose, with ceric ammonium nitrate as a redox initiator in an aqueous medium, for preparing value added products. Grafting of acrylamide chains onto the α-cellulose enhances its thermal stability, a vital property for industrial applications.

Recently, the trend of commercial production of bioethanol from renewable resources has gained momentum. A low cost of feedstock is a very important factor for establishing a sustainable technology for biofuel production. The easy availability, high cellulose content and no competition in the food chain makes L. camara an ideal substrate for bioethanol production (Hahn-Hägerdal et al. 2006). L. camara contains 61.1% (w/w) holocellulose and can suitably serve as a low-cost feedstock. Pasha et al. (2007) evaluated the use of L. camara as feedstock for fuel ethanol production. Yeast fermented L. camara hydrolysate with a fermentation efficiency of 83.7% to give an ethanol yield of 0.4 g/g sugar. Use of L. camara for fuel ethanol production with improved strains and detoxification is recommended. Acid hydrolysis of total sugars is done and activated charcoal adsorption is used to remove these toxic compounds from the acid hydrolysate. The acid-pretreated biomass of L. camara is further delignified through combined pretreatment of sodium sulphite and sodium chlorite. The enzymatic hydrolysis of delignified cellulosic substrate showed 80.0% saccharification after 28 h incubation at 50 C and pH 5.0. Fermentation of acid and enzymatic hydrolysates with Pichia stipitis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae gave rise to 5.16 and 17.7 g/L of ethanol after 24 and 16 h, respectively (Kuhad et al. 2010). Kuila et al. 2011 investigated the effect of enzymatic pretreatment on L. camara biomass for improved yield of cost effective bioethanol. Laccase from mushroom Pleurotus sp. and cellulase from Trichoderma reesei are used for delignification and saccharification, respectively. Response surface methodology is employed for optimizing conditions of saccharification. Using the yeast strain S. cerevisiae, 9.63 g/L bioethanol is produced from the saccharified L. camara. The bioethanol production from L. camara biomass has been illustrated in Fig. 3. The utility of L. camara as a substrate for biogas production and the fate of its toxins after biomethanation process are studied. After 50 days of anaerobic batch digestion, predigested L. camara produced biogas. Both, the quantity and quality of biogas improved when cattle dung is supplemented with predigested L. camara. Biotransformation of L. camara lantadenes during the biomethanation process is noticed (Saini et al. 2003).

Fig. 3
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Schematic representation of bioethanol production from L. camara biomass

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5.3 Implication in agriculture, grain storage and bioremediation

L. camara biomass can be used as substrate for cultivation of edible mushroom, pesticide, antifungal agent to enhance crop yield, insecticide to control weevil in stored grains, allelopathic herbicide to check water hyacinth bloom on aquatic bodies, nematicide, termiticide and soil conditioner.

Substrates ranging from rice and wheat straw, saw dust, hazelnut husk, asparagus straw substrate, cottonseed hull, cow manure waste paper, water hyacinth, olive mill waste to silkworm litter have been used for culinary mushroom cultivation. Vats et al. (1994) evaluated the potential of L. camara as the sole substrate for copious Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor caju) cultivation. The study exhibited reasonable success, though the bio-conversion rate is observed lesser on sterilized L. camara than on wheat straw. Also, the mushrooms produced on L. camara are tested free of putative hepatotoxin lantadene A. The results revealed that L. camara can be used as a new basal ingredient for substrate preparation in Oyster mushroom cultivation.

The fourth instar larvae of lepidopteran pest Spodoptera litura causes serious defoliation of crops like tobacco, cauliflower, castor, cotton, banana, groundnut, mulberry, etc. With the assumption that phytochemical pesticides may prevent adverse effects caused by synthetic insecticides, a crude aqueous extract from the leaves of L.camara is tested. The maximum mean per cent mortality for topical treatment was 96.66 at 40% concentration. This eco-friendly, leaf extract of L. camara may be utilized in themanagement of S.litura after evaluating its effects under field conditions (Deshmukhe et al. 2011).

Screening of plant extracts for antifungal activity is increasing due to demand for new antifungal agents for crops. Acetone extracts of fruits, flowers and leaves of L. camara has inhibitory activity on phytopathogenic fungi (Penicillium janthinellum, Penicillium expansum, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus parasiticus, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium oxysporum, Trichoderma harzianum, Phytophthora nicotiana, Pythium ultimum and Rhizoctonia solani. The L. camara extract may be useful to protect organically grown crops), though the findings warrant further investigation (Mdee et al. 2009).

The high cost of synthetic products and the current lack of effective pesticides are presenting problems for stored product protection. In this context, anti-feedant and larval repellency properties of L. camara has been reported. Essential oil extracts from their leaves are tested for their efficacy on the mortality of the maize grain weevil, Sitophilus zeamais. These results suggest that the essential oils can be exploited for insect control in stored products. Bouda et al. 2001 recommend this strategy in Africa because of the high rate of post-harvest losses in this continent. Zoubiri and Baaliouamer (2011b) studied the efficacy of the essential oils of L. camara and their constituents as fumigants against stored product insects Sitophilus granarius adults. The essential oil rich in sesquiterpene, mainly β-caryophyllene (35.70%) and caryophyllene oxide (10.04%), showed good fumigant activity within 1 week of exposure for all tested doses. Moreover, remanence study confirmed that the oil is efficient during 2 weeks.

The leachate of L. camara is screened for its allelopathic impact on water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). Water hyacinth is killed after 21 days under the experimental conditions, indicating the potential for utilization of L. camara to suppress the aquatic menace (Saxena 2000). The essential oil of L. camara when bioassayed to determine its activity against Amaranthus hybridus and Portulaca oleracea showed high phytotoxic activity against A. hybridus, inhibiting its germination and seedling length. Also, it showed efficacy in reducing the seedling growth P. oleracea. The results suggest the possible use of the L. camara essential oil as natural herbicide (Verdeguer et al. 2009).

Ahmad et al. (2010) assessed various concentrations of aqueous leaf extract of L. camara in vitro against second stage juveniles of the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita that causes extensive economic loss. Synthetic nematicides though commonly used are feared to decline in their efficacy and pose environmental threats. In this regard, the leaf extract of L. camara is found to be highly nematostatic, where nematodes are completely paralyzed after 12 h and after 48 h of exposure, 96% of juveniles are killed. Addition of lyophilized aqueous extract to sterile sandy substrate decreased the root-knot infection to susceptible eggplants.

Termites are a serious menace to agriculture. Chemical control is successful method of preventing termite attack, but pose health and environment hazards. In this regard, biological methods could be suitable alternative. Extracts of L. camara var. aculeata leaves are studied for their termiticidal effects against adult termite workers. The 5% chloroform extract is found to be significantly effective against termite workers (Verma and Verma 2006).Only 5% chloroform extract exhibited excellent termite mortality. On the basis of the LD50, the effect of 5% chloroform extract against M. beesoni termite is the most interesting in comparison with 0.5% chlorpyrifos, the organophosphate insecticide. The obtained positive results stimulate the extraction of active component from L. camara and preparation of potent biocidal formulations.

To investigate the effect of L. camara on soil physioco-chemical properties, the infested and non-infested soils are studied. Moisture, pH, Ca, total and organic C, and total N are reported to be significantly elevated, while sodium, chloride, copper, iron, sulfur, and manganese, are present at lower levels in soils supporting L. camara. These results indicate that L. camara can improve soil fertility and influence nutrient cycling, making the substratum ideal for its own growth and might explain the ability of the weed to outcompete other species, especially native ones (Osunkoya and Perrett 2011). Fan et al. (2010) studied the chemical and microbiological properties of the soil beneath the L. camara and its effect on the growth of three plant species are investigated. The soils underneath L. camara foliage exhibited significantly higher pH, total N, total P, available N and available P than the soil outside. Also significantly higher soil respiration, enzyme activities and microbial biomass are reported in soil under the shrub. These initial findings suggest that L. camara can improve soil quality for other plant species, though further investigation is required to substantiate the claim. The invasion of L. camara in the dry deciduous forest positively affect the soil N pools and processes positively as the bush canopy alters soil moisture beneath and creates a favourable environment for N-mineralization (Sharma and Raghubanshi 2009).

5.4 Sustainable livelihood options

The inhabitants in the tropical region of Garhwal Himalaya use L. camara as fuelwood (Kumar and Sharma 2009). Lantana crafting has showed the way of livelihood to many forest dwelling families. L. camara has found use as a zero-investment raw material, a suitable alternative to bamboo and cane. Moreover, L. camara produce are strong and water proof and termite-resistant guarantying their durability. Forest dwelling communities from Palani Hills, Malayalis from Javadi Hills and Kurubas from Mudumalai, Soligas from Moyar Reserve Forest and BR Hills, Karnataka use this technology to make baskets and furniture that they sell to earn livelihood. Soligas, the tribal artisans of South India are ingeniously utilizing L. camara, as a substitute for rattan and W. tinctoria, and converting it into value added products such as furniture, toys and articles of household utility. Currently, nearly 50 replicas of cane furniture and 25 designs of toys produced by these artisans from L. camara are in great demand in the market. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) supports L. camara produce. The Non Government Organisations (NGOs) can provide training to villagers for making chairs, racks, sofas, tables and other furniture from the weed, propagating the use of L. camara (Fig. 4). Under the aegis of NGOs, Lantana Craft Centres should be established and lantana crafts fairs should be organized annually, to create public awareness.

Fig. 4
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Furniture made from L. camara woody twigs

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6 Conclusions

L. camara is a terror to the ecosystems as it chokes the native vegetation, destroys biodiversity, shows allelopathy and exerts toxic effects on ingestion. It demands concerted efforts for its management. The present review advocates that, instead of merely concluding L. camara a menace, it is wise to opt for its productive utilisation. The recent findings are testimony to the fact that L. camara is an untapped resource. Awareness should be created among rural folks, NGOs, industries, researchers regarding the usefulness of L. camara. The woody twigs can be crafted to aesthetic furniture. This can be developed as a cottage industry to provide livelihood to tribals and the unemployed, giving the economy a boost. The efficacy and safety of the claimed medicinal benefits of this plant need to be evaluated before recommending them for healthcare. Till now, perception is that the merits of L. camara score much lesser than the hazards. Time is ripe for bending the notion.