Essential Oil Enriched with Oxygenated Constituents from Invasive Plant Argemone ochroleuca Exhibited Potent Phytotoxic Effects

Abstract

Invasive species are considered as one of the major threats to ecosystems worldwide. Although invasive plants are regarded as a foe, they could be considered as natural resources for valuable bioactive compounds. The present study aimed to characterize the chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) from the invasive plant Argemone ochroleuca Sweet, collected from Saudi Arabia, as well as to evaluate its phytotoxic activity. Seventy-four compounds were characterized via GC-MS analysis of EO representing 98.75% of the overall mass. The oxygenated constituents (79.01%) were found as the main constituents, including mono- (43.27%), sesqui- (17.67%), and di-terpenes (0.53%), as well as hydrocarbons (16.81%) and carotenoids (0.73%). Additionally, 19.69% from the overall mass was characterized as non-oxygenated compounds with mono- (1.77%), sesquiterpenes (17.41%), and hydrocarbons (0.56%) as minors. From all identified constituents, trans-chrysanthenyl acetate (25.71%), γ-cadinene (11.70%), oleic acid, methyl ester (7.37%), terpinene-4-ol (4.77%), dihydromyrcenol (2.90%), α-muurolene (1.77%), and γ-himachalene (1.56%) were found as abundant. The EO of A. ochroleuca showed significant phytotoxic activity against the test plant Lactuca sativa and the noxious weed Peganum harmala. The EO attained IC50 values of 92.1, 128.6, and 131.6 µL L−1 for seedling root growth, germination, and shoot growth of L. sativa, respectively, while it had IC50 values of 134.8, 145.7, and 147.9 µL L−1, respectively, for P. harmala. Therefore, this EO could be used as a bioherbicide against weeds, while further study is recommended for the characterization of the authentic materials of the main compounds in the EO as well as for the evaluation of potency of this oil on a field scale and the determination of its biosafety.

Prevalence of Diterpenes in Essential Oil of Euphorbia mauritanica L.: Detailed Chemical Profile, Antioxidant, Cytotoxic and Phytotoxic Activities

“…The observed allelopathic activity of EO might be attributed to the effect of the major identified compounds such as (3 E )‐cembrene A, verticiol, limonene, eucalyptol, α ‐pinene, neo‐cembrene A, kaur‐16‐ene, and cembrene. These compounds could act synergistically or singularly as inhibitory allelochemicals [23,24,37,38] …”

Production of Plant-Associated Volatiles by Select Model and Industrially Important Streptomyces spp.

“…Other terpenoids detected in the current study include α-muurolene ( Figure 3 ), which is also produced by S. globisporus [ 76 ]. In addition, α-muurolene is a component of the phytotoxic and antimicrobial essential oils derived from the plants Argemone ochroleuca (Mexican poppy) [ 120 ] and Carum montanum (Family: Apiaceae) [ 121 ], respectively. Cubenol has also been previously detected in the headspace of S. griseus DSM40236 cultures [ 87 ].…”

Allelopathic Effect of Serphidium kaschgaricum (Krasch.) Poljak. Volatiles on Selected Species

“…In S. kaschgaricum volatile oils, the majority of the constituents were oxygenated compounds such as eucalyptol and camphor. Oxygenated terpenes have been reported as more bioactive compared with nonoxygenated ones due to the reactivity of the hydroxyl group [ 34 , 35 , 36 ]. There have been several reports on the plant growth inhibitory activities of eucalyptol and camphor [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”