Crop Science Research in Arid Regions

Crop Science Research in Arid Regions

Morpho-physiological and essential oil of Satureja mutica Fisch. affected by elicitors and irrigation regimes

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Mehrab Yadegari
Research Center of Nutrition and Organic Products, Shk.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
10.22034/csrar.2024.431219.1389
Abstract
Introduction: Satureja mutica commonly belongs to the family Lamiaceae, is one of the important species in Iran. This plant is rich in essential oil, flavonoids, monoterpene glycosides, trypanocidal terpenoids. The main compounds of the essential oil from S. mutica collected from natural habitats are alpha-pinene, thymol, Beta-thujone, carvacrol, alpha-terpinene, gamma-terpinene and germacren-d. The environmental factors cause changes in the growth, quantity, and quality of active substances (such as alkaloids, glycosides, steroids and volatile oils) in the medicinal and aromatic plants. Among environmental stresses, water deficit stress plays an important role in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in medicinal and aromatic plants in arid and semi-arid regions like Iran. Drought stress has detrimental effects on plants growth and yield and can upset the balance between the antioxidant defense system and free radicals by stimulating a series of biochemical reactions, where free radicals cause cell damage. In sustainable production systems of the medicinal and aromatic plants, stable quantitative and qualitative functions can be achieved under conditions of environmental stress and it is possible to improve the production of secondary metabolites in these plants under adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, this study was done to evaluate the organic and alcoholic elicitors on the physiological and phytochemical characters of S. mutica to determine and introduce the best elicitor under water stress.
Materials and Methods: This investigation was done from spring (May) 2022 to fall (September) 2023 in Shahrekord, Iran (latitude. 32°20′ N, longitude. 50°51′ E, altitude. 2061 m). Based on the Köppen climate classification, the climate of the area of study is classified as cold and semiarid. The present study was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications to investigate the effect of foliar application of different elicitors of organic (chitosan, salicylic acid, phenylalanine) and alcoholic (ethanol, methanol, acetone) and control level (without any spraying). Three irrigation regimes (3, 6, 9 day interval) in main plots and foliar application of elicitors in sub plots were done. In each year, treatments were applied in 3 stage (before flowering, beginning of flowering and flowering in 50% completing) and harvesting were done in complete flowering. The essential oils were extracted by hydro-distillation and analyzed by using GC/MS.
Results and Discussion: According to obtained results, applied elicitors significantly influenced the morpho-physiological and phytochemical characters of Satureja mutica. In two years, the highest chlorophyll content (1.29-1.31 mg.g-1FW) and total phenol content (2.23-2.11 mg.g-1FW) were obtained in chitosan (0.25 mg.l-1), phenylalanine (1 mg.l-1) and ethanol (10 %) treatments by irrigation regimes 3 and 6 day interval, respectively. The highest essential oil contents (1.31-1.21 %) were obtained from the plants treated by chitosan (0.25 mg.l-1), ethanol (10%) and salicylic acid (1.5 mM) by irrigation regime 3 day interval. According to the biennial results of the chemical analysis of the essential oils from by GC/MS, the most important chemical compounds that determine the quality of S. mutica essential oil included alcoholic monoterpenes such as Thymol (41.12-41.3 %), P-cymene (32.1-33.9 %), gamma-terpinene (18.91-19.11 %), Carvacrol (3.12-3.91 %) and Alpha-terpinene (3.12-2.93 %) made the most components of essential oil plants. Thymol belonging to phenolic monoterpenoid was the predominant constituent of essential oil of Satureja mutica. Proline content in irrigation regime of 9 day interval more than other regimes and in other hand, the irrigation regime of 3 day interval with chitosan and ethanol treatments was leaser than other treatments. Foliar application of chitosan (0.25 mg.l-1), ethanol (10 %) and salicylic acid (1.5 mM) significantly increased the monoterpene alcohols compounds in essential oils of S. mutica.
Conclusion: Morpho-physiological and essential oil of Satureja mutica had significant differences by elicitors and irrigation regimes. Foliar application of chitosan, ethanol and salicylic acid significantly increased the cyclic monoterpene alcohols compounds in essential oils of S. mutica so that the content of these compounds in treated plants by elicitors approximately 65% was more than the control plants. Finally, the application of chitosan at 0.25 gr.l-1can be a good strategy to improve morpho-physiological characters and essential oil quantity and quality of S. mutica in cold and semi-arid climates.
Keywords
Chitosan
Medicinal plant
P-cymene
Salicylic acid
Thymol
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  • Receive Date 18 December 2023
  • Revise Date 14 April 2024
  • Accept Date 16 April 2024