Phytotoxic Potential of Benzyl Salicylate and Benzyl Benzoate on Bioindicator and Invasive Species

The growing number of invasive species in agricultural areas reduces productivity and results in production losses. The need to discover new compounds with herbicidal activity increases as cases of resistance of invasive plants to herbicides rise. The aim of this study was to evaluate the phytotoxic potential of benzyl salicylate and benzyl benzoate upon the growth of Triticum aestivum coleoptiles and on the initial growth of Lactuca sativa, Lycopersicon esculentum, Allium cepa, T. aestivum, Euphorbia heterophylla, and Megathyrsus maximus. For the T. aestivum coleoptile bioassays, the treatments used the concentrations of 10-3 M, 3 × 10-4 M, 10-4 M, 3 × 10-5 M, and 10-5 M; while for the initial growth bioassays the concentrations of 10-3 M, 10-4 M, and 10-5 M were used. Both compounds presented a minimum of 89% growth inhibition on T. aestivum coleoptiles in all concentrations. Both compounds inhibited the growth of the root system and shoot of A. cepa and E. heterophylla at all concentrations. The species most affected by both compounds in all evaluated parameters was E. heterophylla. For the benzyl benzoate, the inhibition of the roots of E. heterophylla were statistically equivalent to those obtained with the herbicide. Regarding benzyl salicylate, the root inhibition in this species in the 10-4 M and 10-5 M treatments did not differ statistically from the herbicide in the same concentrations. Benzyl salicylate and benzyl benzoate are compounds that presented phytotoxic activity on E. heterophylla and for the first time the phytotoxic effect of these compounds on invasive species is reported.