Ecological Effects
Catechin also has ecological functions.
It is released into the ground by some plants to hinder the growth of their neighbors, a form of allelopathy. Centaurea maculosa, the spotted knapweed, is the most studied plant showing this behaviour, catechin isomers, both released into the ground through its root exudates, have effects ranging from antibiotic to herbicide. It causes a reactive oxygen species wave through the target plant's root starting in the apical meristem rapidly followed by a Ca2+ spike that kills the root cells through apoptosis. Most plants in the European ecosystem have defenses against catechin, but few plants are protected against it in the North-American ecosystem where Centaurea maculosa has been introduced causing uncontrolled growth of this weed.
(+)-Catechin acts as an infection-inhibiting factor in strawberry leaf. Epicatechin and catechin may prevent coffee berry disease by inhibition of appressorial melanization of Colletotrichum kahawae.
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