Allelopathic Potential and Antioxidant Activity of Leaf Extracts from Several Wild Plant Species

Several wild plant species are known to contain biologically active substances that are allelopathic to weed species as well as antioxidant to foods. Plant extracts or residues from leaves of 4 species, Achyranthes japonica (speedwell), Cucumis sativus (Cucumber), Trifolium repens (white clover), and Vicia angustifolia (narrowleaf vetch) were bioassayed against Medicago sativa (alfalfa) or Echinochloa crus-galli (barnyard grass) to determine their allelopathic effects, and used for measurement of antioxidant activities. The aqueous extracts applied on filter paper significantly inhibited root growth of alfalfa. Aqueous extracts or residues from V. angustifolia showed the most inhibitory effect on alfalfa or barnyard grass seedling growth and followed by A. japonica and T. repens. Oxidative stability by Rancimat method, antioxidant activity by TBA (2-thiobarbituric acid) method and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity for the ground samples or methanol extracts were the greatest in V. angustifolia, although were less than those of commonly used antioxidants, BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) and ascorbic acid. These results suggest that the wild plant species had potent allelopathic and antioxidant activities, and that their activities differed depending on plant species.