Comparative Evaluation of the Allelopathic Effects of Aqueous and Methanolic Leaf Extracts of Tamarindus indica on Seed Germination and Early Seedling Growth of Leucaena leucocephala

Résumé

Allelopathy is an important ecological phenomenon in which plants release biologically active substances that influence the germination, growth, and development of neighbouring plants. This study evaluated the allelopathic potential of aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts of Tamarindus indica on the germination and early seedling growth of Leucaena leucocephala. Fresh leaves of Tamarindus indica were collected, dried, powdered to prepare aqueous and methanolic extracts. Different concentrations of 5%, 10%, and 15%, together with control treatments, were evaluated using Leucaena leucocephala seeds. The experiment was arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Germination percentage, germination rate, seedling vigor, plant height, and leaf number were assessed. Data obtained were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference test where appropriate, at a significance level of p ≤ 0.05. The results showed that germination percentage varied among treatments, with the 15% methanolic extract recording the lowest germination percentage (35.00 ± 13.23%) and the lowest germination rate (1.031). However, the differences in germination percentage and germination rate were not statistically significant (p = 0.0964 and p = 0.0655 respectively). Plant height was also not significantly affected by the treatments (p = 0.518). In contrast, leaf number showed a statistically significant difference among treatments (F = 8.000, p = 0.0003), with aqueous treatments generally producing more leaves than the corresponding methanolic treatments. The methanolic extract showed greater mean inhibition of germination (18.02%) than the aqueous extract (11.36%), particularly at 15% concentration, where germination inhibition reached 43.24%. The aqueous extract produced greater mean inhibition of seedling vigor (21.47%) compared with the methanolic extract (1.56%). The study demonstrates that Tamarindus indica leaf extracts possess allelopathic potential against Leucaena leucocephala, their effects varied according to extraction solvent, concentration, and the growth parameter assessed. Further studies using higher concentrations and longer experimental periods are recommended to determine the extent of the allelopathic effects.

Citer ce document

Accès au document

Ce document est hébergé sur son dépôt institutionnel d'origine.

Auteur(s)

Statistiques

Consultations : 1

Téléchargements : 0