Effects of NaCl stress on growth, photosynthesis, and phytochemical composition of creeping savory (Satureja spicigera (C. Koch) Boiss.)
Subject Areas : Medicinal and Herbal Plants
Borzou Yousefi
1
*
,
Hoshang Rahmati
2
*
,
Hooshmand Safari
3
,
Jalal Ghaderi
4
1 - Forests and Rangelands Research Department, Kermanshah Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Iran
2 - Department of Agriculture, Technical and Engineering Faculty, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Department of Forests and Rangelands, Kermanshah Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Iran
4 - Soil and Water Research Department, Kermanshah Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Iran
Keywords: Essential oil, Medicinal plants, Photosynthetic indices, Phytochemicals, Salt stress, Satureja spicigera (C. Koch) Boiss.,
Abstract :
The study examined the effects of NaCl treatments (50, 100, and 150 mM) on various morpho-physiological, photosynthetic and phytochemical traits of creeping savory, a wild medicinal plant, in a greenhouse experiment based on a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Increasing NaCl concentration led to a linear decline in growth parameters, with the highest reductions at 150 mM. Leaf, shoot, and root fresh and dry weights decreased significantly under all NaCl levels. Photosynthetic index improved at 50 mM but declined at 150 mM NaCl. Chlorophyll index also decreased significantly at 150 mM. Essential oil percentage increased under 50 and 100 mM NaCl, however dropped at 150 mM. While α-pinene, β-bisabolene, terpinene-4-ol, methyl ether thymol, methyl ether carvacrol, trans-caryophyllene, p-cymene, and γ-terpinene were decreased in plants treated with NaCl, the percentages of thymol and carvacrol were increased.
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