Abstract
Turkey has one of the richest plant diversities in the Mediterranean region. In the current literature, no broad screening has been conducted on the potential allelopathy of plants from Turkey. This study aimed to evaluate the allelopathic activity of a large number of plants from Turkey for the first time and to determine the species with significant plant growth inhibitory potentials by bioassay. Dried samples of different plant parts were collected from local herbalists. The sandwich method was used to evaluate the potential allelopathy of 126 medicinal plants belonging to 55 families. The results of lettuce radicle and hypocotyl growth for 10 and 50 mg sample treatment conformed to normal distribution. Significant inhibition on lettuce radicle elongation with 10 mg sample was observed in 40 species, out of which 27 species showed over 50% inhibitory activity. The results suggested that these species could contain potential inhibitory compounds against lettuce radicle or hypocotyl growth. The calyxes of Hibiscus sabdariffa (3.2% of control) and the seeds of Prunus dulcis (5.7% of control) showed the most potent growth inhibitory activity on lettuce radicle elongation. The potential plant growth inhibitory effects of these plants, together with the fruits of Rhus coriaria and seeds of Prunus mahaleb, have been reported in this study for the first time. All these plants are medicinal, and the results hereby presented provide essential information about the allelopathic effects of medicinal plants from Turkey.
Highlights
Weeds pose a significant threat to cultivated plants, thereby making weed control a challenging issue for sustainable agriculture [1]
This study focused on medicinal plants from Turkey, which is one of the countries with the richest plant diversity in the Mediterranean region [18,19]
The results of the sandwich bioassay of 126 species from 55 different plant families are presented in this report
Summary
Weeds pose a significant threat to cultivated plants, thereby making weed control a challenging issue for sustainable agriculture [1]. Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon that can be observed in many plants that release chemicals into the surrounding environment either from their aerial or underground parts in the form of root exudation, leaching by dews and rains, and volatilization or decaying plant tissue These compounds released into the environment could affect (inhibitory or stimulatory) the growth and development of other organisms such as weeds, other plants, animals and microorganisms [2,3]. Allelochemicals can act as natural weed inhibitors upon their release from various donor plant species They are present in different plant parts, including the leaves, barks, roots, root exudates, flowers, seeds, pollens, stems and fruits of plants [4,5,6].
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