Investigação da atividade alelopática do extrato aquoso de beta Vulgaris L. Na germinação e crescimento de plântulas de Solanum Lycopersicum L.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The allelopathic effect refers to the action of plant substances, allelochemicals, which may stimulate or inhibit the germination and growth of plants. OBJECTIVES:Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the allelopathic effect of the aqueous extract of beet (Beta Vulgaris L.) - EAB on seed germination and growth of tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum L.) seedlings. METHODOLOGY: To determine the allelopathic action of EAB, commercial tomato seeds were used. The experiment was performed in the Botany Laboratory of the Goyazes University Center and conducted on a randomized design, using three concentrations of EAB, (25%, 50% and 75%), and a control (distilled water). There were four repetitions for each concentration of EAB on germ paper, each containing 25 seeds. The evaluation was done by calculating the germination percentage, percentage of normal and abnormal seedlings, size of the initial protrusion of germinated seeds, total length of the seedlings and their parts (hypocotyl and primary root), vigor index (IV), allelopathic effect index (RI) and germination speed index (GVI). RESULTS: The results showed that: the allelopathic effect provided by EAB interacted positively with respect to seed germination, not altering its rate and speed of germination in tomato seeds; on the other hand, it affected the formation of normal tomato seedlings, with more prominent inhibitory results caused by the aqueous extract at higher concentrations. CONCLUSION: Through the experimental conditions applied in this study, EAB did not influence the germinability of tomato seeds, presenting a positive RI. However, the concentration of 75% promoted a high percentage of abnormal seedlings, suggesting that such an extract may cause morphological and functional changes in the development of tomato seedlings, possibly due to its allelochemical components