• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2012

Methanol extracts of aquatic plants were analyzed for allelopathic activities against Escherichia coli JM109 and $Microcystis$ $aeruginosa$ UTEX2385 which were compared to its 2,2-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities. The radical scavenging activities were detected from the extracts of $Persicaria$ $thunbergii$, $Persicaria$ $amphibia$, $Trapa$ $japonica$, $Myriophyllum$ $spicatum$, and $Brasenia$ $schreberi$. Also, the inhibitory activities against cyanobacteria were analyzed according to the order of $B.$ $schreberi$, $T.$ $japonica$, $P.$ $amphibia$, and $M.$ $spicatum$. Most of the extracts from aquatic plants did not show any inhibition against $E.$ $coli$ except $B.$ $schreberi$. We found a positive correlation between the antioxidental activities of methanol extract of aquatic plants and the growth inhibitory activities for cyanobacteria in terms of the DPPH radical scavenging activities ($R^2$=0.381, $P$ <0.0001). The inhibitory activities of methanol extract against $E.$ $coli$ growth was not correlated with the other activities of aquatic plants ($P$ >0.04). We suggest from this study that the allelopathic effects of aquatic plants against cyanobacteria could be screened by using the bioassay based on DPPH.