Is the activity of antioxidant enzymes, some biochemical properties and essential oil content affected by salinity stress in different species of mint?

Abstract

Mint is one of the important medicinal plants with important properties in industry, medicine, and pharmacy. Salinity stress is one of the limiting factors for plant growth that also affects plants' physiological and biochemical properties. In this study, effects of salinity on biochemical and enzymatic properties of 18 ecotypes of mint from six different species, were studied. The experimental results showed that salinity and increased with increasing stress integrity influenced enzymatic properties, proline content, electrolyte leakage, hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, and essential oil content. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis grouped the studied species on the basis of biochemical characteristics. Based on biplot results, piperita and rotundifolia showed better stress tolerance, but longifolia was identified as salt sensitive. The experimental results also showed that six species of the mint had diverse reactions in terms of biochemical properties at different levels of salinity stress.