Resumen en español

Brachiaria grasses face, due principally to climate change, to extreme conditions like drought and waterlogging, which severely limit their productivity and adoption. Therefore is of particular interest its study with aim to develop future breeding programs. Phenotypic differences have been reported in their tolerance to waterlogging. However, there are a few published information regarding the biochemical responses to waterlogging. In this study was evaluated the antioxidant activity of two contrasting genotypes (B. humidicola -679- tolerant and B. hybrid Mulato II -36087- sensitive) under waterlogged soil conditions. The assays realized were defined in basis of two factor: Antioxidant system (enzymatic-Catalase- and non-enzymatic-DPPH assay-) and Oxidative damage (protein content-Bradford assay- and lipid peroxidation-TBARS assay-). We conclude that the outstanding adaptation of B. humidicola to waterlogged soils to long-term (15 days) is related to their non-enzymatic antioxidant system and is probably related with increase of anthocyanin as waterlogging adaptation. This study is an important step (an initial contribution) in elucidating the biochemical response behind physiological response to waterlogging conditions in tropical forages, which could support the development of breeding programs targeted to select waterlogged adapted plants.