Allelopathic effect of Morus alba, Populus nigra and Euphorbia helioscopia on Brassica campestris

Shah Khalid

doi:10.19045/bspab.2021.100056

Abstract

The current research work investigates the allelopathic potential of leaves of most common plants found in Brassica farms i.e. Morus alba, Populus nigra and Euphorbia helioscopia on seed germination and seedling growth of Brassica campestris. Fresh and dry leaves of M. alba, P. nigra and E. Helioscopia was prepared by soaking fresh chopped leaves and dry leaves in powder form (5g, 10g and 15g) were soaked in 100ml of distilled water for 48hrs and were filtered after 24hrs. The extract of M. alba, P. nigra and E. helioscopia was applied on B. campestris seeds to study its effect on germination percentage, radicle length and plumule length. The data was recorded in triplicates after 72hrs of the incubation period at 26oC. Extracts of M. alba and P. nigra significantly reduced the germination percentage while E. helioscopia enhanced the germination percentage of B. campestris. The results revealed that the most effective treatment was 10g fresh leaves extract of P. nigra which reduced the germination to 67% and showed no germination in 15g fresh leaves extract. The fresh and dry leaves extract of M. alba, P. nigra and E. helioscopia reduced the radicle and plumule length. Maximum reduction in the radicle length was recorded 95.41% in 10g fresh leaves extract of Populus nigra and maximum reduction in plumule length was recorded 95.49% in 15g dry leaves extract of Euphorbia helioscopia. The effect of dry leaves extract was more inhibitory effect than the fresh leaves extract. From the results it was concluded that the fresh and dry leaves extract of M. alba, P. nigra and E. helioscopia negatively affected the germination and seedling growth of Brassica campestris which indicates that some allelochemicals might be present in these plants. Keywords: Allelopathic effect, Brassica campestris; Euphorbia helioscopia; Germination percentage; Inhibitory effect; Morus alba, Populus nigra; Plumule length; Radicle length http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2021.100056

Highlights

The extract of M. alba, P. nigra and E. helioscopia was applied on B. campestris seeds to study its effect on germination percentage, radicle length and plumule length
The data recorded from E. helioscopia extract showed that maximum reduction in the radicle length was observed 63.21% in 10g dry leaves extract, and a minimum depletion in radicle length was observed in 42.14% in 15g fresh leaves extract
The present research work revealed that M. alba, P. nigra and E. helioscopia leaves may contain some allelochemicals that puts negative effect on the growth and germination of Brassica campestris and inhibited the germination, radicle and plumule length of Brassica campestris

Summary

The term allelopathy was originated from

The results showed that the maximum decline in germination percentage was recorded 40% in 15g dry leaves extract of M. alba whereas minimum inhibition was recorded 11.15% in 5g fresh leaves extract. Maximum reduction in the radicle length by P. nigra extract was recorded 91.41% in 10g fresh leaves extract, and a minimum reduction was observed 14% in 15g dry leaves extract, whereas 15g fresh leaves extract showed no germination. The data recorded from E. helioscopia extract showed that maximum reduction in the radicle length was observed 63.21% in 10g dry leaves extract, and a minimum depletion in radicle length was observed in 42.14% in 15g fresh leaves extract. The extract of P. nigra reduced plumule length and was recorded a maximum of 91.90% in 10g fresh leaves extract and a minimum of 2.42% in 5g dry leaves extract. Bars with different letters represent significant difference at P= 0.05

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion and Recommendations