Characterisation of allelochemical compounds signature in two mangrove forest species of Rhizophora apiculata and Acrostichum aureum and potential in suppressing weed growth

Abstract

Rhizophora apiculata and Acrostichum aureum are a common mangrove species in Malaysia. Allelochemical interaction of the mangrove species was speculated to play an important role in dominance in the harsh mangrove environment. This study assessed the quantitative and qualitative determination for total phenolic content and individual phenolic compounds as allelochemical content for R. apiculata and A. aureum leaves as a potential allelopathic substance. The second objective is to investigate the allelopathic effect towards weed germination and growth through in vitro model system. Two types of maceration extraction comprising water extraction and sequential alkaline extract were used for allelochemical screening analysis. Both extractions were separated by ethyl acetate. Acrostichum aureum had the highest total phenolic content (1129.52 µg GAE/g DW) in comparison with R. apiculata. Meanwhile, the quantitative analysis by HPLC, revealed that different extraction detected different individual phenolic acid, Caffeic acid detected in both mangrove species in sequential alkaline extraction by A. aureum. The allelopathic effect of Chloris barbata for A. aureum extract indicated that during pre-emergent development, the suppression of weed growth was higher compared to post-emergent. Therefore, A. aureum may work as an allelochemical producer and can contribute to the establishment of pure colonies of A. aureum in the mangrove ecosystem.

Allelopathic Potential of Mangroves from the Red River Estuary against the Rice Weed Echinochloa crus-galli and Variation in Their Leaf Metabolome

“…Little is known about the allelopathic potential of mangrove species: Chen & Peng [ 30 ] tested the allelopathic potential of three mangrove species on model target plants and another study suggested that allelopathic processes could be involved in mangrove succession [ 31 ]. To date, only a few studies have reported the allelopathic potential of mangroves species in weed management [ 32 , 33 ].…”

Mangroves in a transforming world : Biogeochemical interactions, global change drivers, and innovative mitigation strategies

“…Inhibition of growth by allelopathic effects from mangrove phytochemicals has been reported for crops (Desai et al, 2016), weeds (Dhaou et al, 2022;Othman et al, 2019), wetland plants (Lang et al, 2021), microalgae (Sun et al, 2012), and other mangrove species (Wang et al, 2009). However, there is currently no scientific evidence indicating that naturally released mangrove leaf phytochemicals can reduce pathogen load in seawater, leaving this as an open question.…”