Comparative Study of Allelopathic Effects of Green Tea and Black Tea

The present study focused on the evaluation and comparison of allelopathic effects of aqueous extracts of green tea and black tea leaves (Camellia sinensis) against germination and radicle growth of Cicer arietinum seeds. The extracts at different concentrations was incubated in controlled experimental conditions with the surface sterilized seeds of C. arietinum and observed periodically for seed germination and radicle growth to assess the allelopathic behavior. Both the tea extracts mainly at higher concentrations demonstrated promising allelopathic potential by significantly affecting seed germination and radicle elongation up to 96 h in a concentration dependent manner. Green tea was found to be more effective than black tea, plausibly due to higher flavonoid contents of green tea.