Confirmation of potential herbicidal agents in hulls of rice, Oryza sativa.

An ethyl acetate extract of Oryza sativa (rice) hulls yielded seven compounds: hentriacontane, 1-tetratriacontanol, beta-sitosterol, momilactone A, momilactone B, tricin (a flavonoid), and beta-sitosterol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside. The structures of these compounds were elucidated with 500 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), using 1D and 2D spectral methods, aided by electron ionization mass spectrometry (EI-MS), fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS), infrared (IR), and ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry. The complete 1H NMR assignments for momilactone A and B and 13C NMR assignments for tricin are discussed. To the best of our knowledge, hentriacontane, 1-tetratriacontanol, and beta-sitosterol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside were identified for the first time in rice hulls. In biological activity tests using these identified compounds, momilactone A and B showed potent inhibitory activity against duckweed (Lemna paucicostata). 1-Tetratriacontanol and beta-sitosterol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside also showed about 13-20% inhibitory activity based on chlorophyll reduction. Hentriacontane and beta-sitosterol did not show any herbicidal activity. In a germination assay of three weed species (Leptochloa chinenesis L., Amaranthus retroflexus L., and Cyperus difformis L.) in culture tubes both momilactones A and B had high inhibitory effects. Momilactone B completely inhibited germination of all three weed species at 20 ppm. Germination of L. chinensis L. was completely inhibited by a 4 ppm solution of momilactone B.