Present work has been initiated to see if inherent biochemical difference among plants is, in any way, related to the observed selectivity characteristics of preemergence herbicide, alachlor. Application of aqueous solution of alachlor onto three intact plants, soybean, chinese cabbage and barnyard grass resulted in phytotoxicity responses in the testt plants in varying degree. Examination of glutathione (and homoglutathione) contents of the test plants indicated that the phytotoxicity is inversely proportional to the peptide contents of the test plants. It was also noted that four to five water soluble metabolites are readily formed in intact seedling treated with labelled alachlor and glutathionealachlor and homoglutathionealachlor conjugates were tentatatively identified as major metabolites. It is concluded that conjugation reaction involving glutathiones and xenobiotic alachlor, a typical phase II reaction, acts as detoxification reaction in the three test plants and this would, in turn, contribute to observed selectivity of alachlor.