ALLELOPATHIC POTENTIAL OF LEAF AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF BRAZILIAN LEGUMINOSAE TREES

This work describes the effect of the aqueous extracts obtained from leaves of some Brazilian leguminous trees on germination and root growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. “Grand Rapids”). The extracts were obtained by static maceration with distilled water and the germination assays were performed with these extracts with and without phenolics, which was obtained by filtering through polivinylpirrolidone (PVP). The majority of the tested species inhibited the growth of lettuce root radicle, but only Mimosa artemisiana inhibited lettuce seed germination. The inhibition of seed germination did not occur with PVP filtered extracts, suggesting the phenolic nature of phytotoxins present in this extract.

Key words
Leguminosae; phytotoxicity; allelopathic potential