Tagetes: A multipurpose plant

Tagetes species, popularly known as marigold, are grown as ornamental plants and thrive in varied agroclimates. Bioactive extracts of different Tagetes parts exhibit nematocidal, fungicidal and insecticidal activity. Nematocidal activity of roots is attributed to thienyls while the biocidal components of the essential oil from flowers and leaves are terpenoids. Also carotenoid pigments from Tagetes are useful in food coloring. In this paper, various uses of this multipurpose plant are reviewed.