Allelopathic and Nematodicidal Effects of Capparis Spinosa Aqueous Extract on Growth Parameters of Cucumber and Tomato

Present study was conducted to introduce an efficient، safe and cost-effective method to control plant parasitic nematodes، especially Root-knot nematodes. In this regard، the allelopathic and nematodicidal effects of Capparis spinosa aqueous extract were evaluated in vitro and greenhouse condition by using cucumber and tomato as test plants. Experiments were conducted in three parts. In the first part the inhibitory effects of C. spinosa extract on growth of cucumber and tomato was investigated. In the second and third parts the nematodicidal effect of the extracts were studied in petri dishes and greenhouse conditions، respectively. Results obtained by first experiment indicated that the most plant parameters of test plants negatively and significantly affected upon treated by different concentration of extract when compared to control، whereas degree of inhibition increased with increasing extract concentrations. Results from second experiment showed that in all C. spinosa extract concentrations tested in Petri dishes، 100 percent of Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne javanica) were killed. On the other hand، saprophyte nematodes (Rhabditis sp.) were less affected by extracts. Upon application C. spinosa extract in soil، nematodicidal effect of extract decreased when compared to Petri dishes conditions. According to results obtained from pot experiment، Root-knot nematodes population in soil significantly decreased after treating with extract and subsequently both cucumber and tomato plants performed better. However، the higher level of improvement was observed in cucumber as compared to tomato. This result regarding to greater inhibitory effect of extract on tomato than cucumber is expected. Overall، results confirm nematodicidal property of C. spinosa extract.