Allelopathic Potential of Ephedra

摘要

The ethanolic extract obtained from dried Ephedra pachyclada Boiss. Flowering aerial parts was evaluated in vitro to examine its potential allelopathic effects. The alkaloids ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are the active constituents of the plant. Theinhibitory effect of the extract at 0, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20% (i.e., g amounts of original extract in 100 ml of distilled water) on germination and seedling growth of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) as representative monocotyledonous plants and soybean (Glycine max) and mung bean (Vigna radiata) as representative dicotyledonous plants were tested. All concentrations of the stock Ephedra extract significantly reduced (P < 0.05) germination rate and percentage and seedling growth of the four examined plants. At 20% of the original extract, the germination of perennial ryegrass, soybean and mung bean was completely suppressed. In this study, the allelopathic potential of E. pachyclada extract on seed germination of thetwo dicotyledonous plants belonging to the Poaceae family was higher than the two monocotyledonous plants belonging to the Fabaceae family.