Abstract

CAZON, Ada; DE VIANA, Marta  and  GIANELLO, José C.. Identificación de un compuesto alelopático de  Baccharis boliviensis (Asteraceae) y su efecto en la germinación de Trichocereus pasacana (Cactaceae). Rev. biol. trop [online]. 2000, vol.48, n.1, pp.47-51. ISSN 0034-7744.

The genus Baccharis has a wide distribution in Northwestern arid regions of Argentina. Studies carried out on the spatial distribution of T. pasacana in relation to the available space, show that although beneath B. boliviensis canopy, cacti seeds are abundant, no adult plants are found growing in association to that species in spite of the requirement of a nurse plant for a successfull cacti establishment. Hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts from B. boliviensis folliage inhibited T. pasacana germination completely.The bioassays were carried out in a germination chamber following a random design, with four replicates by treatment. The chloroform extract was the most effective solvent for extracting the phytotoxic material from the aqueous extracts. The ferrulic acid structure was determined by ¹³C NMR, ¹HNMR spectra and TLC on silica gel.

Keywords : allelochemicals; ferrulic acid; germination.