This study aimed to identify the allelopathic activity of extracts from Ziziphus joazeiro bark and leaves on the seeds of lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Two experiments were conducted, which both used a randomized design. The first four replicates were the following treatments (EF-extract of leaves at 100ºC, EF-extract of leaves at 25ºC, EC-extract of bark at 100ºC, EC-extract of bark at 25ºC, and distilled water). The next five treatments used 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% concentrations of the crude extract and four replicates of 20 seeds. The crude extract was obtained after the bark and leaves were blended with water (50 g of material for 500 ml of water). The results showed that the effect of the extract depended on the concentration. The crude and diluted extracts did not affect germination, but in higher concentrations the extracts caused an high percentage of abnormal seedlings and the extracts of the leaves and bark produced at 100ºC reduced root and shoot growth. Aqueous extracts of bark and leaves of Z. juazeiro have a toxic effect on seed germination of L. sativa.
germination; stem bark extracts; leave extracts; lettuce
