ABSTRACT
Chemical agents produced by some plants may cause changes on the development of other plants and organisms. Laboratory assays can show the results of these interactions, however, without considering the environmental action. Theaimof this work was to identify the influence of plant extracts from 3 species of plants usually known in Brazil as “boldo” on the development of Allium cepa seeds. Bioassay were carried out in a germinator at 25° C with aqueous extract obtainedby infusion of the fresh leaves in concentration of 30 g.L-1 and distilled water as a control. The first score and germination tests that evaluated allelopathic effect were done with 4 repetitions of 50 seeds/extract. For the cytotoxicity assay, using mitotic index (MI), 2,400 cells/extract were scored through the scan technique. The bioassay revealed that the plant extracts act on the A. cepa germination and root-tip cell division. Seeds exposed to Vernonia condensata extract showed the highest divergence when compared with the control group.
KEY WORDS
Cell division; allelopathy;
Vernonia condensata
;
Plectrantus barbatus
;
Plectrantus amboinicus
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