Allelopathy of Ambrosia artemisiifolia on germination and growth of maize and soybean seedlings

Abstract

In this work, the influence of root exudates and aqueous extract from Ambrosia artemisiifolia shoots on germination, seed vigor and initial development of corn and soybean were evaluated. Two experiments were carried out in a factorial scheme (2x2), corn and soybean with and without root exudate, and the second in a factorial scheme (2x4), corn and soybean at concentrations of 0, 25, 50 and 75% of aqueous extract of A. artemisiifolia shoots. The root exudate of A. artemisiifolia negatively affected the vigor of maize seeds, but not germination. The root exudate of A. artemisiifolia did not influence the germination and vigor of soybean seeds. The corn crop was more sensitive than soybean to root exudate. The aqueous extract from A. artemisiifolia shoots negatively affected the vigor of maize seeds and the vigor and germination of soybean seeds, being the soybean crop more sensitive to the allelopathic effects of the extract. The aqueous extract from A. artemisiifolia shoots presented total phenol content of 11.13 mg g^-1 of the dry mass, which can be considered a high value when compared to other weeds.