Selected Phenolic Acids Inhibit the Initial Growth of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.

SIMPLE SUMMARY: In the context of international commitments to reduce the environmental impact of herbicides, ecologically more favorable control method approaches must be explored. This is particularly important for allergenic Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., one of the most harmful species in the world. Secondary plant metabolites and, in particular, some phenolic compounds are known to have a strong allelopathic effect on weed growth. In this study we investigated whether phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid, vanillic acid, and p-coumaric acid) can inhibit the early growth of A. artemisiifolia. Phenolic acids were tested at five different dose levels that were up to 16 times than those naturally occurring in plants. The results show that the suppression of the early growth of A. artemisiifolia is strongly dependent on phenolic acid and its dose. Treating seeds with ferulic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, or a mixture of all phenolic acids resulted in significantly better inhibition of early growth parameters than other phenolic acids. However, none of the phenolic acids tested were effective as bioherbicides at their naturally occurring doses in plants. Therefore, selected doses of phenolic acids with significantly reduced herbicide doses should be further explored to effectively control A. artemisiifolia. ABSTRACT: This study aimed to investigate whether different doses of specific phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid, vanillic acid, and p-coumaric acid), alone or in combination, can inhibit the early growth of the common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., Asterales: Asteraceae). A seed bioassay was performed in Petri dishes and placed in a climate chamber to assess the effects of five dose levels of phenolic acids to radicle and shoot length, as well seedling biomass of A. artemisiifolia. The lowest dose of phenolic acid corresponded to the natural phenolic acid concentration previously reported in dry plant tissue samples from Brassicaceae cover crop plants. Results show that the inhibition of the early growth of A. artemisiifolia depends strongly on phenolic acid. Across different treatments, high doses of phenolic acids significantly shortened shoots and radicles, as well as reduced seedling biomass. Treating seeds with ferulic acid alone, vanillic acid alone, p-hydroxybenzoic acid alone, or a mixture of all phenolic acids significantly reduced all early growth parameters. The estimated effective dose for the 50% inhibition (ED(50)) of radicle growth in A. artemisiifolia seedlings was 368.39 ± 59.85 × 10(−8) mol with ferulic acid, 135.41 ± 17.65 × 10(−8) mol with p-coumaric acid, 810.36 ± 134.15 × 10(−8) mol with p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and 160.11 ± 12.30 × 10(−8) mol with the combination of all phenolic acids.