Determination of allelopathic properties of Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd.

Abstract

Plants possessing allelopathic potential could be used as a source of bio-herbicide to help decrease the use of synthetic herbicides. Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd., a deciduous tree from the Mimosaceae family, has been reported to have medicinal properties. However, there have been no reports on the allelopathy of this tree. Therefore, the leaf extracts of A. catechu were examined for allelopathic potential using six concentrations: 0.001, 0.003, 0.01, 0.03, 0.1, and 0.3 g dry weight equivalent extract mL-1. The aqueous methanol extracts of A. catechu significantly suppressed the seedling growth of six test plants such as alfalfa, cress, lettuce, barnyard grass, Italian ryegrass, and timothy. The extracts inhibited the six test plants in a concentration-dependent manner. The shoot and root growth of all the test plant species were completely inhibited from the concentration of 0.3 g of dry weight equivalent extract mL-1, except the shoot growth of barnyard grass. Concentrations needed for 50% growth inhibition (I50 values) ranged from 0.004 to 0.043 g dry weight equivalent extract mL-1 for shoot growth, and 0.003 to 0.019 g dry weight equivalent extract mL-1 for root growth. Moreover, the I50 values indicated that the root growth of all the test plants was more susceptible to the A. catechu extracts than the shoot growth. The inhibitory effects of the extracts of A. catechu suggest that the extracts may contain allelopathic potential and, therefore, may be a potential candidate for the isolation and characterization of allelochemicals to develop an ecofriendly bio-herbicide.

Allelopathic Activity and Characterization of Allelopathic Substances from Elaeocarpus floribundus Blume Leaves for the Development of Bioherbicides

“…The I 50 values from Table 1 also indicate species-specific phytotoxicity of the extracts. This type of allelopathic activity of plant extracts has been reported by many researchers [39][40][41][42]. Our preceding studies with Albizia richardiana also show these types of dose-dependent and species-specific inhibitory activity against various tested plants [ [43][44][45].…”

Three Active Phytotoxic Compounds from the Leaves of Albizia richardiana (Voigt.) King and Prain for the Development of Bioherbicides to Control Weeds

“…Aqueous methanolic extracts of Albizia richardiana leaves significantly limited the growth (shoot and root) of the tested plant species, and the level of suppression increased with increasing extract concentration. Other studies have also reported the same types of concentrationdependent suppression using extracts of various plant species [44][45][46][47]. The I 50 values of the Albizia richardiana leaf extracts indicated that growth suppression was tested species dependent (Table 1).…”

Phytotoxic Activity and Growth Inhibitory Substances from Albizia richardiana (Voigt.) King & Prain

“…Allelopathic substances can influence physiological activities and factors such as seed germination, photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, ion uptake, water status, stomatal opening, enzyme activity, and the hormone levels of plants [44]. These phytotoxic substances also influence cell division and differentiation, gene expression, signal transduction, cell wall structure, cell membranes, and cell permeability [45,46].…”