Phenolic acids in sea grasses
Zapata, O.; Mcmillan, C.
Aquatic Botany 7(4): 307-318
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0304-3770
Accession: 006100677
Six phenolic acids were found in leaves of over 50% of the seagrasses surveyed. p-Hydroxybenzoic acid was the most ubiquitous and was recorded in each of the 12 genera and in each of the 25 spp. that included both Gulf-Caribbean and Indo-Pacific seagrasses. p-Coumaric, caffeic, ferulic, vanillic and protocatechuic acids were also of frequent occurrence. The 6 phenolic acids were detected in rhizomes and roots as well as in leaves of 4 Texas [USA] seagrasses, Thalassia testudinum Banks ex Konig, Halodule wrightii Aschers., Syringodium filiforme Kutz. and Halophila engelmannii Aschers. The phenolic acids that predominate in the seagrasses also occur widely in land plants, but gallic acid was detected in a greater percentage of seagrasses than observed in a comparable number of land plants of central Texas origin. Although the phenolic acids have been cited in the allelopathic literature of land plants as major water-borne inhibitors, their role in seagrass ecosystems is under investigation.