Antioxidant activity of rice plants sprayed with herbicides

Understanding the physiological defense behavior of plants subjected to herbicide application may help to identify products with higher or lower capacity to cause oxidative stress in crops. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of herbicides in the antioxidant activity of rice plants. The experimental design was completely randomized, with six replications. Treatments consisted of the herbicides bentazon (photosystem II inhibitor; 960 g ha-1), penoxsulam (acetolactate synthase inhibitor; 60 g ha-1), cyhalofop-butyl (acetyl coenzyme-A carboxylase inhibitor; 315 g ha-1) and a control. After the herbicides application, samples of rice shoots were collected at 12, 24, 48 and 96 hours after application (HAA). The components evaluated were hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), lipid peroxidation and activity of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). Bentazon (up to 24 HAA) and penoxsulam (48 and 96 HAA) reduced the CAT activity. Moreover, these herbicides increased the levels of H2O2, lipid peroxidation and SOD activity, indicating a condition of oxidative stress in rice plants. The cyhalofop-butyl herbicide did not alter the antioxidant activity, showing that it causes less stress to the crop.