Abstract
Natural plant resources with herbicidal activity may be substitutes for synthetic chemical pesticides, likewise aromatic plant extracts, especially essential oils. Essential oil from Litsea pungens has been proved to possess a strong antibacterial property. Interestingly, we found the essential oil also showed a strong allelopathic capacity. Therefore, in the present work, the chemical composition of the essential oil from the fruit of L. pungens was analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The weed control abilities of the essential oil were also further evaluated. The results show that the yield of essential oil extracted by steam distillation was 1.4%, and 17 compounds, mainly terpenoids, were identified by GC–MS. In allelopathic tests, the essential oil exhibited a negative effect on seed germination rate and seedling growth of Lolium perenne and Bidenspilosa. Moreover, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde content, electrolyte leakage, catalase, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase of seedlings treated with essential oil were also negatively affected. This work could provide a better understanding of the rational utilization of L. pungens essential oil for crop cultivation and further development of environment-friendly herbicides.
Highlights
In recent years, the excessive abuse of chemical synthetic herbicides has had a negative impact on environmental pollution and human health, and has led to increasing herbicidal resistance in many weeds [1,2,3]
The yield of L. pungens essential oil extracted by steam distillation was 1.4% (v/w), the density was 0.9 g/mL, which was based on dried weight, and the constituents of L. pungens essential oil were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS)
We found that in the Petri dish experiment, the concentration of 2.000 mg/mL of essential oil completely inhibited the seed germination and seedling growth of L. perenne and B. pilosa
Summary
The excessive abuse of chemical synthetic herbicides has had a negative impact on environmental pollution and human health, and has led to increasing herbicidal resistance in many weeds [1,2,3]. Aromatic plant essential oils have more ecological advantages in the environment and can be used as biological herbicides [5,6,7]. It is found that essential oils such as clove oil and eucalyptus oil are a promising natural resource that can be used as insect repellents, herbicides, food protectors and for environmental protection as nontoxic chemical pesticide alternatives [8,9,10]. Many reports are interested in the development and utilization of plant essential oils as environment-friendly herbicides [5,13,14]
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