Investigation of yield, phytochemical composition, and photosynthetic pigments in different mint ecotypes under salinity stress.

Seyyed Jaber Hosseini,Saeid Hazrati,Zeinolabedin Tahmasebi‐Sarvestani,Seyed Ali Mohammad Modarres‐Sanavy,Hemmatollah Pirdashti,Ali Mokhtassi‐Bidgoli,Silvana Nicola

doi:10.1002/fsn3.2219

Abstract

Salinity stress is one of the main limiting factors of medicinal plant growth and may affect their characteristics and chemical composition. In order to evaluate the response of different species of Iranian mint to salinity stress, an experiment was designed in greenhouse conditions. In this experiment, six Iranian mint species were cultivated in pots under different salinity stress including 0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5 dS/m. The chlorophyll indices (a, b, total, and a/b ratio), carotenoids, total anthocyanin, total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, dry matter yield, and essential oil content were measured in two different harvest stages. Salinity stress affected various measured traits. The results showed that despite the negative effect of salinity stress on photosynthetic pigments, in some ecotypes and species, photosynthetic pigments were not affected by salinity stress. The amount of total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and total anthocyanin increased in response to salinity stress. The dry matter decreased under salinity stress, but the content of essential oil increased as a result of salinity stress increment. The results of PCA biplot showed that the E16 and E18 ecotypes were separated by a large distance. Among the various ecotypes, E18 had the most desirable traits which can be recognized as a salt‐tolerant ecotype. Also, piperita species was the best among the species in all salinity stress levels.

Highlights

Soil and water salinity is one of the most important environmental factors limiting the growth and yield of plant crops in the world, especially in arid and semiarid regions (Foster et al, 2018)
The results of the present experiment showed that the amount of chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll in different species was affected by salinity stress and decreased with increasing salinity stress (Table 2)
Evaluation of different species under salinity stress conditions is a solution for selecting superior species in order to produce more dry matter and phytochemical compounds

Summary

Introduction

Soil and water salinity is one of the most important environmental factors limiting the growth and yield of plant crops in the world, especially in arid and semiarid regions (Foster et al, 2018). Plants need to maintain turgor and water absorption for growth This requires an increase in osmotic activity, which is achieved by adsorption from the soil or by the synthesis of metabolic solutions. Mint is among the most important medicinal plants widely cultivated and consumed on a global scale, mainly due to its high content of essential oils (Lawrence, 2006) This plant is used as a rich source of essential oils that has a broad nutritional application. Khalvandi et al, (2019) showed that salinity stress increased the production of mint secondary metabolites They showed that antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, and total flavonoid content were affected by the salinity stress. Several studies focused on different plant species and ecotypes under salinity stress (Aziz et al, 2008; Wu et al, 2016)

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Conclusion