Involvement of an autotoxic compound in asparagus decline

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) is a widely cultivated perennial veritable and can be harvested more than ten years. However, the crop quality and yield decline after a few year's cultivation, which is called “asparagus decline”. Even though those asparagus plants were replaced with new young asparagus plants, the productivity and quality of the crop remain relatively low, which is known as a “asparagus replant problem”. One of the possible reasons for “asparagus decline” and “asparagus replant problem” is thought to be autotoxicity of asparagus. However, the compounds involved in the autotoxicity is not clear. The objective of this study was therefore to determine the potential role of autotoxicity in the “asparagus decline” and “asparagus replant problem”. An aqueous methanol extract of 10-year-asparagus-cultivated soils inhibited the growth of asparagus seedlings and other two test plants with concentration dependent manner. The result confirmed that the asparagus soils have autotoxic activity. The extract was then purified by several chromatographies with monitoring the inhibitory activity and a potent growth inhibitory substance causing the autotoxic effect was isolated. The chemical structures of the compound was determined by spectral data to be trans-cinnamic acid. trans-Cinnamic acid inhibited the growth of asparagus seedlings at concentrations greater than 10 μM. The concentrations required for 50% growth inhibition of asparagus (IC50) were 24.1-41.6 μM. trans-Cinnamic acid accumulated 174 μM in the 10-year-asparagus-cultivated soils, which may be enough levels to cause the growth inhibition on asparagus considering its IC50 value. Therefore, trans-cinnamic acid may contribute to the autotoxic effect of asparagus soils, and may be in part responsible for “asparagus decline” and “asparagus replant problem”.