Effect of Crude Leaf Extract of Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp on the Seed Germination

• Gliricidia sepium


  A small thornless, semi-deciduous tree known for its rodenticide and mosquito repellent property, also used as fodder for cattle and has medicinal uses
• Gliricidia sepium


  • Contains secondary metabolites like anthraquinone, alkaloids, phenol, saponin, tannins, polyoses, polyuronides, flavanols moderately present in stem, leaves, and roots
• Allelochemicals


  Chemicals produced by plants that can inhibit or stimulate the growth of other plants
• Allelochemicals like tannins, wax, flavonoids and phenolic acids may inhibit the germination and seedling vigor of plants
• Allelopathy


  The ability of plants to inhibit or stimulate growth of other plants in the environment by exuding chemicals
• Decline in crop yield in cropping and agroforestry systems in recent years has been attributed to allelopathic effects
• Allelopathic substances are most commonly found in plant extracts and in plant residues of soil, some are found in live plant exudates and as volatile gases liberated from leaves and rhizome
• Procedure


  1. Collect fresh leaves of Gliricidia sepium and ground the leaves using mortar and pestle

  2. Collect the sap and filter it using cheesecloth and Whatman filter paper (No. 1)

  3. Store the filtrate in amber bottles and refrigerate as a stock solution

  4. Prepare five different concentrations (30, 35, 40, 45, and 50%)

  5. Make three replicates per treatment using 10 seeds per treatment

  6. Soak the seeds in distilled water in the control group and in five different concentrations of the plant crude extract for the test group for 6 h

  7. Evenly place the seeds on two layers of paper towels in covered clean plastic containers

  8. Keep the seeds moist (either with distilled water or the extracts) until the radicle of the seeds in the control group had grown to 1.0-1.5 cm (time 0 or T0, day 1)

  9. Maintain the seeds at room temperature under moist conditions for an additional period of 96 h (5 days)
• Toxicity Determination


  1. Count the number of germinating seeds after 96 h

  2. Calculate the percentage mortality (%M) by dividing the number of seeds that did not germinate by the total number of seeds used, then multiplied by 100%

  3. Determine the LC50 (as established at a concentration where 50% of the population germinated after the whole duration of the treatment)
• Gliricidia sepium


  A small thornless, semi-deciduous tree known for its rodenticide and mosquito repellent property, also used as fodder for cattle and has medicinal uses
• Gliricidia sepium


  • Contains secondary metabolites like anthraquinone, alkaloids, phenol, saponin, tannins, polyoses, polyuronides, flavanols moderately present in stem, leaves, and roots
• Allelochemicals


  Chemicals produced by plants that can inhibit or stimulate the growth of other plants
• Allelopathy is the ability of plants to inhibit or stimulate growth of other plants in the environment by exuding chemicals.
• Decline in crop yield in cropping and agroforestry systems in recent years has been attributed to allelopathic effects
• Allelopathic substances are most commonly found in plant extracts and in plant residues of soil, some are found in live plant exudates and as volatile gases liberated from leaves and rhizome
• Procedure


  1. Collect fresh leaves of Gliricidia sepium and ground the leaves using mortar and pestle

  2. Collect the sap and filter it using cheesecloth and Whatman filter paper (No. 1)

  3. Store the filtrate in amber bottles and refrigerate as a stock solution

  4. Prepare five different concentrations (30, 35, 40, 45, and 50%)

  5. Make three replicates per treatment using 10 seeds per treatment

  6. Soak the seeds in distilled water in the control group and in five different concentrations of the plant crude extract for the test group for 6 h

  7. Evenly place the seeds on two layers of paper towels in covered clean plastic containers

  8. Keep the seeds moist (either with distilled water or the extracts) until the radicle of the seeds in the control group had grown to 1.0-1.5 cm (time 0 or T0, day 1)

  9. Maintain the seeds at room temperature under moist conditions for an additional period of 96 h (5 days)
• Toxicity Determination


  1. Get the percentage mortality (%M) by dividing the number of seeds that did not germinate by the total number of seeds used, then multiplied by 100%

  2. Determine the LC50 (as established at a concentration where 50% of the population germinated after the whole duration of the treatment)
• The secondary metabolites like anthraquinone, alkaloids, phenol, saponin, tannins, polyoses, polyuronides, flavanols are moderately present in stem, leaves, and roots of the plant.
• Secondary metabolites present in in stem, leaves, and roots of Madre de cacao:

  • anthraquinone
  • alkaloids
  • phenol
  • saponin
  • tannins
  • polyoses
  • polyuronides
  • flavanols
• Allelochemicals present in some plants are:

  • tannins
  • wax
  • flavonoids
  • phenolic acids
• Objective of this exercise:

  to evaluate the effect of crude leaf extract of G. sepium on the germination of selected plant (Radish or Raphus sativus)
• Concentration:

  • 30%
  • 35%
  • 40%
  • 45%
  • 50%
• Control group is with distilled water
• Keep the seeds moist (either with distilled water or the extracts) until the radicle of the seeds in the control group had grown to 1.0-1.5 cm (time 0 or T0, day 1)