Effect of essential oils on seeds of the weed species ambrosia Artemisiifolia L.

Abstract

Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. is an allergen species that belongs to the group of invasive weeds, and is very frequent and present in our region. The use of essential oils in the control of weeds attracts great attention of researchers. Many of them have already pointed out the ability of some oils and/or their individual components to delay seed germination of various weeds or completely inhibit it. In this paper, we present results of the efficacy of three essential oils on A. artemisiifolia seeds; the trials were carried out using two different in vitro methods, in which the percentage of seed germination was measured 7th day. In testings with seeds soaked in essential oil solution, in Petri dishes (500 μl in 100 ml of distilled water), a significant inhibition of germination was observed in the case A. graveolens and S. officinalis oil (100 % and 97 % , respectively), while the oil of S. montana demonstrated slightly weaker inhibitory effect (86 %). When essential oils were applied in form of a vapour (an oil droplet of 25 μl applied on the inner side od Petri dish lids), A. graveolens and S. officinalis oils inhibited the seed germination 100 % and and 95 % , respectively , while the oil of S. montana again demonstrated the weakest inhibitory effect (52 %). The aim of the presented research was to determine whether the application of the essential oils of A. graveolens, S. officinalis and S. montana in form of a solution or vapor, affects, and to what extent they are important for germination of seeds of the weed species A. artemisiifolia L.

Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. je korovska i alergena vrsta iz grupe invanzivnih korova, veoma je frekventna i prisutna na našim prostorima. Upotrebe etarskih ulja u kontroli korova privlači veliku pažnju istraživača, i mnogi od njih su već istakli sposobnost ulja i/ili njihovih pojedinačnih komponenti da odlože klijanje semena nekih korovskih vrsta ili ga u potpunosti inhibiraju. U ovom radu, prikazani su rezultati ispitivanje uticaja etarskih ulja na seme ambrozije in vitro, a koja su sprovedena korišćenjem dve različite metode, u kojima je procenat klijalih semena utvrđivan nakon 7 dana. Pri naklijavanju semena u rastvorima ulja u Petri šoljama (500 μl u 100 ml destilovane vode), postignuta je veoma značajna inhibicija klijanja, i to u slučaju ulja A. graveolens i S. officinalis 100% i 97%, respektivno, dok je ulje S. montana ispoljilo nešto slabiji inhibitorni efekat (86%). Etarska ulja A. graveolens i S. officinalis su i u slučaju primene razmazivanjem kapi (25 μl) na poklopce Petri posuda inhibirala klijanja semena ambrozije 100 % i 95%, respektivno, dok je ulje S. montana i kod ove metode ispoljilo najslabiji inhibitorni efekat (52%). Cilj istraživanja prikazanog u u ovom radu je bio da se utvrdi da li primena etarskih ulja A. graveolens, S. officinalis i S. montana u vidu rastvora ili isparenja, imaju uticaja, i u kojoj meri su oni značajni, za klijanje semena korovske vrste A. artemisiifolia L.