Abstract
Alfalfa saponins are known to exhibit allelopathic activity, reducing yields of succeeding plants following alfalfa cultivation [1–3], and decreasing growth and/or activity of soil microorganisms [4, 5]. The fate of these saponins in soil has received limited study to date. Inhibition of wheat seedling growth in soils treated with powdered alfalfa roots was less in heavy loam and loamy sand soils than in a loose or coarse sand [6]. In this work alfalfa root saponins were adsorbed from water solutions more by heavy-textured soils than by light-textured soils. Bioassay with Trichoderma viride of inhibitory saponins left in water after incubation with soil was used by these authors to estimate saponin adsorption. Bioassays, however, are an indirect method for following the fate of saponins in soil.
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Okumura, M., Filonow, A.B., Waller, G.R. (2000). Use of 14C-Labeled Alfalfa Saponins for Monitoring Their Fate in Soil. In: Oleszek, W., Marston, A. (eds) Saponins in Food, Feedstuffs and Medicinal Plants. Proceedings of the Phythochemical Society of Europe, vol 45. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9339-7_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9339-7_19
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