Evaluation of Biological Response of Lettuce ( L.) and Weeds to Safranal Allelochemical of Saffron () by Using Static Exposure Method.

Safranal, the main volatile chemical of Saffron () was studied to estimate its allelopathic effects on the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll, leaf electrolyte leakage, fresh weight, catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX) activity of the test plant Lettuce (). In this study, the effective concentration (EC) of safranal on CAT was estimated to be 6.12 µg/cm. CAT activity was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by the increase in the safranal concentration while POX activity was increased. Moreover, Safranal caused significant physiological changes in chlorophyll content, leaf electrolyte leakage, and fresh weight of several weed species with being the most sensitive. Furthermore, 5 µM Safranal showed significant inhibitory activity against dicotyledonous in comparison to the monocotyledons under greenhouse conditions. The inhibition of the CAT by safranal was similar to those of uncompetitive inhibitors, and therefore the decline in carbon fixation by plants might be the mechanism behind the inhibitory activity of safranal.