Abstract
Context: Changium smyrnioides Wolff (Apiaceae) is an endangered medicinal plant with numerous pharmacological uses. Objective: To investigate the effect of light intensity levels on the growth and accumulation of secondary metabolites of C. smyrnioides, cultivated seedlings were subjected to different relative light intensities via sun-shading. Materials and methods: Changium smyrnioides seedlings were subjected to five irradiance treatments (100, 60.54, 44.84, 31.39, and 10.56% sunlight) in glasshouse for 9 months. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants with spectrophotometric method, photosynthetic parameters with Li-6400XT, dry matter accumulation and active component contents in the root with spectrophotometric and HPLC method were analyzed. Results: With an increase in relative light intensity levels, activities of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were increased overall, while net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and dry matter accumulation patter first increased and then declined. The highest net photosynthetic rate (30.68 μmol/m2·s) and dry root weight (5.07 g) were achieved under 60.54% sunlight. Lower relative light intensity levels stimulated the accumulation levels of bioactive compounds in the roots so that the highest contents of mannitol (1.35%) and choline (405.58 μg/g) were recorded under 31.39% sunlight, and the highest polysaccharide content (10.80%) were achieved under 44.84% sunlight. With a decrease in the relative light intensity levels, the water-soluble component content increased first and then decreased. Discussion and conclusion: The results revealed that 31.39–60.54% sunlight serve as appropriate relative light intensity conditions for cultivated C. smyrnioides.
Highlights
Changium smyrnioides Wolff (Apiaceae), the sole representative of the monotypic genus Changium, is a herbaceous perennial plant, endemic to Eastern China (Qiu et al 2004)
When C. smyrnioides were subjected to different relative light intensity levels, significant variations in activities of enzymatic antioxidant were observed (Table 1)
The activity of SOD recorded for full sunlight (Control) was 6 times higher than that recorded for 10.56% sunlight
Summary
Changium smyrnioides Wolff (Apiaceae), the sole representative of the monotypic genus Changium, is a herbaceous perennial plant, endemic to Eastern China (Qiu et al 2004). It distributes in the eastern and central regions of the Yangtze River basin, and mainly in the northwest region of Zhejiang Province, the southwest region of Jiangsu Province, and the southeast region of Anhui Province (Pan et al 1995). Active components of Changii Radix include polysaccharides, mannitol, choline, etc. Polysaccharides of Changii Radix can promote immune activity, stress resistance and intestinal motility and offer potential application value against cancer and infectious diseases (Wang et al 1992, 2007; Huang et al 1994; Chen et al 1999). The content of water-soluble components in Changii Radix was stipulated to exceed the legal limit of 20% in ‘Chinese Pharmacopoeia’ (2015 edition)
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