The aim of this work was to study the allelopathic effect of aqueous extract and essential oil of fresh leaves from Ocimum basilicum L. 'Maria Bonita' on germination velocity index, root length and germination percentage of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.), and melissa (Melissa officinalis L.). The extracts were obtained by grounding fresh leaves and the essential oil was extracted through hydrodistillation of the leaves during 90 min. Two application forms were used, aqueous extract and essential oil, five concentrations (0.0; 0.001; 0.01; 0.1 and 1.0% v/v), in completely randomized design, with five replicates including 25 seeds of each species per plot, totaling 25 plots for each species. The obtained results indicated that the aqueous extracts of basil presented a significant effect only for the germination velocity index of tomato seeds, as well as for lettuce and melissa root length. Basil essential oil presented allelopathic inhibitory potential in lettuce, tomato and melissa seeds, affecting germination velocity index, germination percentage and seedling root length.
Ocimum basilicum; allelopathy; chemical composition; germination
