Allelopathic effect of Coriandrum sativum on germination of lentil (Lens culinaris Med.) seeds and growth of seedlings in early development stages

The experiment was conducted at the Plant Physiology Laboratory of the Institute of Biology and Plant Biotechnology, Aleksandras Stulginskis University in 2017. The aim of the research was to determine the allelopathic effect of aqueous extracts from coriander roots and stems on the germination of lentil ‘Smėlinukai’ variety seeds and the growth of seedlings in early development stages. The treatments of investigations were as follows: 1) aqueous extracts of Coriandrum sativum roots, concentration 1:12 (C. sativum biomass : distilled water); 2) aqueous extracts of roots, concentration 1:30; 3) aqueous extracts of C. sativum stems, concentration 1:12; 4) aqueous extracts of stems, concen 191 tration 1:30. The control was distilled water. The experiment was repeated three times. In total, 25 lentil seeds were used for every replicate. Coriander root aqueous extracts of 1:12 and 1:30 concentrations did not have any significant effect on the germination energy and germination of lentil seeds. The coriander stem aqueous extracts of 1:12 and 1:30 concentrations significantly inhibited the lentil germination. Compared with distilled water, it was, respectively, 1.25 and 1.17 times lower. The 1:12 concentration coriander root aqueous extract substantially inhibited the growth of lentil sprouts. Sprouts were 47.7%, or 1.91 times, shorter than with distilled water. The lentil root length was significantly reduced in the 1:12 concentration aqueous extracts of corianden roots and stems, 83.3 (roots) and 73.1% (stems), respectively. As a result of the effect of the 1:12 concentration coriander root and stem aqueous extracts, the ratio of roots/sprouts length was less than 1. It was 0.7 and 0.85, respectively.