Screening of 170 Peruvian plant species for allelopathic activity by using the Sandwich Method

Peru is one of the 20 botanically extremely diverse countries in the world, with >17 000 flowering plants, of which 30% are endemic. So far, no systematic research has been conducted on the screening of the allelopathic plants. In this study, the allelopathic activity of 170 species from 61 families of Peruvian plants that were collected from the three main regions of Peru – the Costa (Pacific coastline), the Sierra (Andean mountains), and the Selva (Amazonian rainforest) – was evaluated. The allelopathic activity was determined by the Sandwich Method, which can evaluate the activity of leaf leachates. The species that were found to be highly inhibitory in this screening, under the criterion of >90% inhibition of the radicle of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) seedlings, were Aristeguietia ballii and Diplostephium foliosissimum (Asteraceae) and Spondias mombin (Anacardiaceae). All of these species are native plants from Peru. This study gives a strong clue regarding the potential of isolating potent allelochemicals from these plants in the future.