Dly. Liu et al., HERBICIDAL ACTIVITY OF HYDROLYZED CORN GLUTEN MEAL ON 3 GRASS SPECIESUNDER CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS, Journal of plant growth regulation, 13(4), 1994, pp. 221-226
US Patent No. 5,030,268 discloses that corn gluten meal, the protein f
raction of corn (Zea mays L.) grain, can be used as a natural pre-emer
gence herbicide. However, corn gluten meal is insoluble in water, and
this characteristic renders it difficult to apply as a herbicide. To s
eek a water-soluble material with more potent herbicidal activity, the
phytotoxicity of various samples derived from corn gluten meal and ot
her related crop materials were evaluated by using three different gra
ss species under controlled environments. Greenhouse and growth chambe
r bioassays showed that the sample of enzymatically hydrolyzed corn gl
uten meal was more herbicidally active than the corn gluten itself and
was highly water soluble. Gluten hydrolysate prepared with bacterial
source proteinase had the greatest inhibitory activity to the root gro
wth of germinating seeds. This water-soluble material derived from cor
n gluten meal had a growth-regulating effect on the root system and ca
n be used as a natural herbicide.