Effects of Amino Acids on Morpho-physiological and Essential Oil Attributes of Satureja bachtiarica Bunge. under Water Deficit Conditions
Journal Title: Journal of Horticulture Science - Year 2025, Vol 39, Issue 1
Abstract
Introduction Satureja bachtiarica is one of the important endemic species and is used in medicinal and food industries. This plant is rich in essential oil, flavonoids, monoterpene glycosides and trypanocidal terpenoids. The main compounds of the essential oil from S.bachtiarica L. collected from natural habitats are alpha-pinene, p-cymene, carvacrol and gamma-terpinene. The environmental factors cause changes in the growth, quantity, and quality of active substances (such as alkaloids, glycosides, steroids and volatile oils) in medicinal and aromatic plants. Among environmental stresses, water deficit 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 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 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 amino acids on the physiological and phytochemical properties of S. bachtiarica to determine and introduce the best amino acids under water stress.  Materials and Methods This investigation was done from spring (May) 2022 to fall (September) 2023 at the Research Farm of Islamic Azad University, Branch of Shahrekord (latitude. 32°20ⲠN, longitude. 50°51ⲠE, altitude. 2061 m). Based on the Köppen climate classification, the climate of the study area is classified as cold and semiarid. This study was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) as a split plot layout with three replications. Irrigation regimes (3-day, 6-day, and 9-day intervals) were assigned as the main plots, while the foliar application of amino acids (methionine, lysine, phenylalanine, and proline) was designated as the subplots. In each year, treatments were applied at 3 stages (3 months after sowing, end of vegetation, before flowering, beginning of flowering and early flowering) and harvesting was done in the complete flowering stage. Weed control was applied manually during the entire experiment. During the experiment, no fertilizer and no systemic pesticide and herbicide were used. The harvested shoots were transferred to the laboratory for extracting and analysis of the leaves and stems of treated plants. For assessment of the total chlorophyll content of S. bachtiarica, the leaves were extracted with 80% acetone. The absorbance of the extraction was read at 470, 648, and 664 nm, and the content of total chlorophyll was calculated as mg per g leaf dry weight. Total phenol content was measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent as reported by Singleton and Rossi. The total phenol content was expressed as mg of gallic acid equivalent per g leaf dry weight according to standard curves of gallic acid. The essential oils were extracted by hydro-distillation and analyzed using GC/MS.  Results and Discussion Applied amino acids significantly influenced the morpho-physiological and phytochemical characters of Satureja bachtiarica. In two years, the highest chlorophyll content (1.41-1.54 mg.g-1 FW) and total phenol content (2.45-2.72 mg.g-1 FW) were obtained in methionine (2.5 g.l-1) and phenylalanine (100 µM) treatments by irrigation regimes 3-day interval. The highest essential oil contents (1.09-1.61 %) were obtained from the plants treated by methionine (2.5 g.l-1) and phenylalanine (100 µM) treatments by irrigation regime 3 days interval. The main chemical compounds of essential oil were P-cymene (17.12-19.45 %), gamma-terpinene (18.14-16.87 %) and Carvacrol (45.12-51.24 %) belonging to cyclic monoterpenes. The treatments had significant effectiveness on cyclic monoterpens such as alpha-terpinene, gamma-terpinene, germacren-d, carvacrol, thymol and p-cymene. Increasing of essential oil content/composition by use of amino acids was seen. The main components of essential oil in plants treated by proline were lesser than other treated plants. In two years of this research amino acids of methionine and phenylalanine mad the most amounts of carvacrol and essential oil content. The monoterpene alcohols in volatile oils of the treated plants with amino acids elicitors considerably were higher than the sesquiterpenes. According to the ratio of monoterpenes alcohol to sesquiterpenes in volatile oils of the treated S. bachtiarica with different elicitors, the foliar application of amino acids can improve the odor quality of S. bachtiarica volatile oil.  Conclusions Foliar application of methionine (2.5 g.l-1) and phenylalanine (100 µM) treatments better than other treatments increased the morpho-physiological and essential oil attributes. Environmental conditions such as drought play a key role in plant growth and biosynthesis of different metabolic compounds. The observed variation in shoot yield and phytochemical content of S. bachtiarica during the studied years may related to differences in photoperiod, temperature, solar radiation, precipitation and occurrence of biotic and abiotic stresses at different growing seasons. Also amino acids had very important effectiveness on content/composition of essential oil of S. bachtiarica. Generally, treats of methionine and phenylalanine can be a good strategy to improve morpho-physiological characteristics and essential oil quantity and quality of S. bachtiarica in the same climate.
Authors and Affiliations
M. Yadegari,
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP761391
- DOI https://doi.org/10.22067/jhs.2024.86940.1328
- Views 34
- Downloads 0
Study of Essential Oils Changes and some Biochemical Properties of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. under Application of Salicylic Acid
IntroductionGrowth regulators play a vital role in developmental stages of plants and their use can be improved the yield of crops. One of the most important compounds that used as growth regulators in recent years is sa...
Effect of Nano-Iron Chelate and Cycocel on Growth Parameters of Poinsettia
IntroductionPoinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) from the family Euphorbiaceae is used as potted and cut flower and has great importance in floriculture industry. Appropriate application of nutrients and plant growth regul...
Effect of Foliar Application of Putrescine on the Morphological and Physiological Characteristics of Lime Seedlings (Citrus aurantifolia) under Drought Stress
IntroductionCitrus fruits are one of the most commercial fruit products in the world, whose growth and production are affected by abiotic stresses. Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses that affect...
Investigating the Effect of Different Concentrations of Murashige and Skoog (MS) Medium and Sucrose on the Production of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Microtubers in vitro
Introduction Considering the sensitivity of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) to viruses, the production of virus-free plants through in vitro cultivation and their propagation leads to a reduction in costs and an increas...
Postharvest L-phenylalanine Application on Shelf life and Physicochemical Characteristics of Sabrina Strawberry During Cold Storage
Introduction One of the most important global challenges is food waste, about 30% of the world's agricultural land is wasted. Every year, about 9.5 million tons of food is lost in the post-harvest phase of agriculture....