Abstract

The agricultural industry has tried to develop effective herbicides, especially biological herbicides, with less impact on our agricultural environment. Recently, allelopathy has emerged as a potential alternative to chemical herbicides for weed management. Allelopathy is defined as "any direct or indirect, harmful or beneficial effects of one plant on another through the production of chemical compounds that are released into the environment."Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, a species that originates from Africa and is widely cultivated in both tropical and sub-tropical regions, is considered as a rich source of allelochemicals with biological weed control ability. Chemical constituents of sorghum include tannins, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, phytosterols and policosanols. Investigations on underground parts of sorghum indicate that sorgoleone is in charge of the weed control activity, while phenolic compounds play a vital role in its herbicidal activity on aerial parts of weeds. This review aims at providing up-to-date and comprehensive information about allelopathy in sorghum and further application of sorghum extract in weed control.