Allelopathy and Quantification of Causative Allelochemicals in Sweet Potato

Greenhouse and laboratory studies were conducted to determine the allelopathic potentials of extracts or residues from sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. (Lam). The extracts applied on filter paper in a Petri dish bioassay significantly inhibited root growth of alfalfa. Aqueous leachates at 40g dry tissue $\textrm{L}^{-1}$ (g $\textrm{L}^{-1}$) from leaves showed the highest inhibition against alfalfa, and followed by stems and roots. Alfalfa root growth was significantly inhibited by methanol extracts of the same plants as the concentration increased. The effect of residue incorporation into soil on seedling growth of com, soybean, barnyard grass and eclipta was examined in the greenhouse, and results showed that the leaf residues at 200g $\textrm{kg}^{-1}$ by plant parts inhibited shoot dry and root dry weights of test plants by 60-80%. By means of HPLC, causative allelopathic substances present in plant parts of sweet potato "Sinyulmi" were identified as coumarin, trans-cinnamic acid, o-coumaric acid, p-coumaric acid, and chlorogenic acid. Total content of these compounds for leaves extracts were detected as the greatest amount in EtOAc fraction, especially trans-cinnamic acid was the greatest component. These results suggest that sweet potato plants have herbicidal potentials, and that their activities exhibit differently depending on plant parts.ant parts.