ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF ROOT-INHIBITING COMPOUNDS FROM CORN GLUTEN HYDROLYSATE

Interest has centered on the use of plant-derived compounds as natural herbicides, and they are considered to represent an environmentally s ound approach to weed control. Corn gluten hydrolysate, found to have a growth-regulating effect on the root system of germinating grass see ds, has been suggested as a natural herbicide. A protocol was develope d to extract, isolate, and identify the root-inhibiting compounds from corn gluten hydrolysate aqueous solution and a perennial ryegrass (Lo lium perenne L.). A Petri dish bioassay was used to test the root-inhi biting activity. Five bioactive dipeptides were isolated by using Seph adex G-15 gel filtration, solid-phase extraction, and C18 reversed-pha se high-performance liquid chromatography procedures. The five dipepti des were glutaminyl-glutamine, alaninyl-asparagine, alaninyl-glutamine , glycinyl-alanine, and alaninyl-alanine. Their root-inhibiting activi ty on perennial ryegrass was demonstrated in Petri dish bioassays.