Natural Products, Medicinal Plants & Marine Drugs

Wood wastes are potential source of bioactive compounds. The wasted by-products can present higher contents of bioactive compounds. One of the most important sources of bioactive compounds present in the forestry waste is the phenolic compounds. This study present information about influence of phenolic compounds, separated from wood waste in the processes of growth and development of some plants. Natural extracts are characterized by different concentrations and compositions, depending on the source and the agent used to separate them. Their own data and those in the literature, highlight that polyphenolic extracts influence a series of processes, such as seed germination, plant growth and development, cell division, biosynthesis of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments. These influences are manifested differently, depending on the type of plant being tested and on the type of extract applied in the growth medium, characterized by a certain concentration and composition of the polyphenols. Thus, the inhibitory or stimulatory role of polyphenolic compounds in the metabolism of plants has been highlighted. Therefore, these aspects need to be further investigated in order to highlight some mechanisms of action that would allow the establishment of a correlation between structure, function and properties.