Phytotoxic Effects of Essential Oils from Six Lamiaceae Species

Abstract

Essential oils produced by plants, and their components, could be sources of new natural herbicidal compounds. Thirteen oils extracted from six wild Lamiaceae species (namely Clinopodium suaveolens (Sm.) Kuntze, Satureja montana L. subsp. montana, Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav., Salvia fruticosa Mill. subsp. thomasii (Lacaita) Brullo, Guglielmo, Pavone & Terrasi, Satureja cuneifolia Ten., and Thymus spinulosus Ten.) from South Italy were tested in vitro for the phytotoxic activity to cress and branched broomrape seeds, tomato radicles, and lambsquarters leaf disks. Moreover, the possible correlation between oil composition and biological activity was evaluated. One of the oils from T. capitata inhibited cress germination by 96.4% at the lowest tested concentration (100 ppm) and reduced both chlorophyll and carotenoid content in lambsquarters leaf disks by around 50%. Some oils, particularly those from T. spinulosus, inhibited tomato radicle elongation by 85% at 1000 ppm. Many oils inhibited broomrape seed germination up to 100% when tested in solution at 1000 ppm or released as vapors. Among the oil components, α-terpinene, p-cymene, β-cis-ocimene, cis-sabinene hydrate, carvacrol methyl ether, and thymol were mostly correlated to the inhibition of cress seeds germination and tomato radicle elongation. The presence of thymol and p-cymene was also correlated to the inhibition of broomrape seed germination. Some of the tested essential oils or their components could have potential as pre-emergence herbicides and could be useful in the development of new weed control strategies.

The Comparison of Honey Enriched with Laboratory Fermented Pollen vs. Natural Bee Bread in Terms of Nutritional and Antioxidant Properties, Protein In Vitro Bioaccessibility, and Its Genoprotective Effect in Yeast Cells

“…Three samples of fermented pollen (FP1, FP2, and FP3) were prepared as described in Miłek et al [12]. Additionally, two other samples of fermented pollen with the use of commercial Lactobacillus acidophilus (Moro) (LA-5, Ch.…”

“…Earlier studies of honeys with the addition of bee bread showed that it is a product with high antioxidant activity, containing an increased content of phenolic acids and flavonoids [9]. A significant effect of enrichment with bee bread was also shown by the physicochemical parameters of honey and the content of minerals, which means that such a product can be a valuable source of micro and macroelements in the human diet [10], remembering the crucial role of some microelements (i.e., Zn and Fe) present in some wild species that are important to man [11,12]. Bee bread is also rich in protein (approx.…”

Edible Halophytes and Halo-Tolerant Species in Apulia Region (Southeastern Italy): Biogeography, Traditional Food Use and Potential Sustainable Crops

“…In fact, considering the increase of global climate change and severe conditions prevailing all over the world, conventional crop cultivation is facing various limitations related to shortage of good quality water, rising temperature and the salinization and degradation of soil properties, especially in arid and semi-arid regions of the Mediterranean basin where the aforementioned problems intensify [ 2 ]. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to propose alternative crop species able to adapt to difficult conditions in the framework of saline agriculture and constitute good candidates as potential food and medicinal crops [ 3 ], as already recently enacted in Apulia for some wild aromatic coastal species of Lamiaceae family [ 4 , 5 , 6 ] that can meet the future needs of populations who will face this challenge.…”

Synecology of Lagoecia cuminoides L. in Italy and evaluation of functional compounds presence in its water or hydroalcoholic extracts

“…The integration of wild species into crop fields, particularly in organic farms, is of great importance to support the biodiversity and stability of agro-ecology systems and to enhance farmers’ livelihood 3 . This kind of wild species is useful for several reasons, such as the use of their extracts as source of natural herbicidal compounds 4 , used in the food sector, and to increase the plant and animal biodiversity. Some of the wild species recently “domesticated” are aromatic and medicinal plants, which showed economical and agronomical potentials greater than the parental cultivated species 5 , 6 .…”