Phytotoxic Activity and Growth Inhibitory Substances from Albizia richardiana (Voigt.) King & Prain

Albizia richardiana, a fast-growing, large deciduous tree belonging to the Fabaceae family, grows well in hot and humid areas but mainly grows in the tropics of the Old World. The medicinal and other uses of Albizia richardiana are well documented, but the phytotoxic effects of this tree have not yet been investigated. We conducted this study to investigate the phytotoxic activity of Albizia richardiana leaves and to identify growth inhibitory substances for controlling weeds in a sustainable way. Aqueous methanol extracts of Albizia richardiana leaves greatly suppressed the growth of cress and barnyard grass seedlings in a concentration- and species-dependent manner. Two phytotoxic substances were separated using several purification steps and characterized through spectral analysis as dehydrovomifoliol and loliolide. Dehydrovomifoliol and loliolide significantly arrested the seedling growth of cress in the concentrations of 0.1 and 0.01 mM, respectively. The extract concentrations needed for 50% growth inhibition (I-50 values) of cress seedlings were 3.16-3.01 mM for dehydrovomifoliol and 0.03-0.02 mM for loliolide. The results suggest that these two allelopathic substances might play a vital role in the phytotoxicity of Albizia richardiana leaves.

Automated summary

Albizia richardiana, a fast-growing deciduous tree, shows phytotoxic effects on weed growth. Dehydrovomifoliol and loliolide, two allelopathic substances found in the leaf extracts, significantly inhibit the growth of cress seedlings. These findings suggest the potential use of these compounds for weed control in a sustainable manner.