Identified Substances from the Leaves of Tephrosia cinerea (Leguminoseae) Crude Extracts and their Phytotoxic Effects

Abstract

This research evaluated the phytotoxic effect of the hexane (H.E), ethyl acetate (EtOAc.E) and methanolic (MeOH.E) crude extracts of the Tephrosia cinerea leaves on the seed germination of seeds using two weed species, Mimosa pudica (Malicia) and Senna obtusifolia (Mata-pasto), as test plants. The compounds were isolated using classic chromatography techniques and the structural elucidation of the compounds was performed by 1H and 13C NMR (1D and 2D) techniques. The ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts of T. cinerea were the most active, as they inhibited the germination of seeds in 92.0% and 81.0% respectively of malicia and mata-pasto, the ethyl acetate extract inhibited germination by 81.0% and the methanolic extract by 32.0%. The chemical study led to isolation of cinnamic acid and rotenone from the ethyl acetate extract, and mixture containing triacylglycerol and s-sitosterol fatty acids from the hexane extract and the disaccharide trehalose from methanolic extract.