Germination and seedling growth of barley as affected by Artemisia annua water extract

Abstract

Laboratory and greenhouse pot experiments were conducted to assess the allelopathic effects of Artemisia annua water extract on germination and growth of barley. Lower concentrations of A. annua water extract (0.5 and 1.0 %) did not affect the germination of barley seeds. However, higher concentrations (1.5-3.5 %) resulted in significant reductions in the germination percentage. Seedling growth of barley was also affected by A. annua water extract. Both shoot and root lengths were negatively affected by A. annua water extract and the degree of inhibition was concentration dependent. When barley seedlings were subjected to 0.5% extract concentration, shoot length was inhibited by 6% while root length showed 18.5% inhibition over control seedlings. The lowest shoot and root lengths were recorded at 3.0 and 3.5 % water extract. At 0.5 % extract concentration, shoot and root fresh and dry weights were significantly unaffected compared with the control. Shoot fresh weight was significantly unaltered when seedlings were treated with 1.0 % extract. However, at the same concentration root fresh weight, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight were inhibited by 44.7, 33.3, and 40 %, respectively. The present results confirmed that root growth (length and weight) was more sensitive to A. annua water extract than shoot growth. The present results also indicated the presence of water soluble allelochemicals in A. annua that are able to inhibit growth of barley.

Comparative Evaluation of the Allelopathic Effects of the Leaf Extracts of Three Asteraceae Species (Ageratum conyzoides, Vernonia amygdalina, Artemisia annua)

“…This shows that the two species could be used in the formulation of plant based herbicides that inhibit the growth and spread of roots in already emerged weeds in cultivated farmlands. Also the alleopathic effect of the two species (A. conyzoides and A. annua) on seedlings height has further confirmed their phytotoxic impact on the growth of other plants due to the presence of allelochemicals as documented by Salman et al [16] and Dias et al [17]. However, despite the non significance of the allelopathic effect of V. amygdalina leaf extract on all the parameters under study, its ability to enhance growth of treated seedlings shows that it can be utilised to develop ecofriendly, cheap and effective green growth promoter.…”

Mechanical Wounding Induces Catalase Gene (VsCat) in Leaves of Common Vetch

“…During their life cycle, plants are frequently exposed to different biotic and abiotic stress factors (Abu-Romman, 2016a;Salman et al, 2017;Abid et al, 2020). These stresses lead to a series of molecular and metabolic responses, adversely affecting crop growth, development, and productivity (Al-Momany and Abu-Romman, 2014;Ahanger et al, 2017;Sadder et al, 2019).…”

Exploiting the Allelopathic Potential of Aqueous Leaf Extracts of Artemisia absinthium and Psidium guajava against Parthenium hysterophorus, a Widespread Weed in India

“…Artemisia spp. are also known for their allelopathic properties [18][19][20][21] especially against other species that can become invasive in some areas, such as Convolvulus arvensis and Portulaca oleracea [19].…”