Signal, Not Poison—Screening Mint Essential Oils for Weed Control Leads to Horsemint

Mohammed Sarheed, Hans-Jakob Schärer, Qiyan Wang-Müller, Pascale Flury, Chloé Maes, Manon Genva, Marie-Laure Fauconnier and Peter Nick ()
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Mohammed Sarheed: Botanical Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Hans-Jakob Schärer: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), 60441 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Qiyan Wang-Müller: Swiss Chinese Herbal Medicine and Functional Food Innovation Center, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Pascale Flury: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), 60441 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Chloé Maes: Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Manon Genva: Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Marie-Laure Fauconnier: Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Peter Nick: Botanical Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Weed control tries to suppress competitors for a crop and often relies on differential intoxication, making use of differences in uptake, development, or metabolism. We explored the possibility of using natural signals to shift competition in favour of the crop. Using the competitive horsemint ( Mentha longifolia ) as a paradigm, we showed that essential oils from certain mint species suppress the seedling development of different target species in a specific and efficient manner. The specificity concerned both the donor and the receptor. We demonstrated further that the effect of horsemint oil was specific for actin filaments, and not for microtubules. Since the elimination of actin will impair auxin transport, which is essential for root regeneration in vegetatively propagating weeds, we tested the efficacy of horsemint essential oil in combination with a slow-release carrier against field bindweed ( Convolvulus arvensis ), a pertinent weed in organic cereal production. We observed that the development of this weed can be specifically blocked, especially if the carrier is worked into the soil. We propose that allelopathic interactions, often relying on manipulative chemical signalling, harbour significant potential for organic weed control.

Keywords: Mentha longifolia; horsemint; allelopathy; actin; weed control; Convolvulus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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