Prolonged Water Deficit Stress and Methyl Jasmonate-Mediated Changes in Metabolite Profile, Flavonoid Concentrations and Antioxidant Activity in Peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.)

Gholamreza Abdi,Sayed Alireza Salami,Majid Shokrpour,Leila Karami

doi:10.15835/nbha47110952

Abstract

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.) infusion is one of the main important sources of antioxidants. This antioxidant property can be enhanced by using elicitors and inducing abiotic stress. This study was conducted to evaluate the foliar application of Methyl Jasmonate (50 µM) and water deficit stress (no stress, mild stress and moderate stress as 100, 75 and 50% of field capacity, respectively) and their interactions on cultivated peppermint on plant growth, secondary metabolite and antioxidant capacity of infusions made under different treatment. Water deficit stress treatments increased flavonoid contents and total phenolic as well as antioxidant capacity significantly. Some phenolic compound such as luteolin, naringenin, coumaric acid, and quercetin were detected only in some drought and Methyl Jasmonate treatments. Also, fewer amino acids such as L-serine, Threonine, 4-aminobutiric acid, 5-oxo-L-proline and unsaturated fatty acids were identified. Also, foliar application of 50 µM Methyl Jasmonate treatment improved plant growth parameters and metabolite profile such as carbohydrates and amino acids in non-stress and stress conditions. Therefore, inducing water stress and applying MeJA is recommended to enhance the biologic properties of peppermint and improve bioactive compounds and the antioxidant capacity of peppermint infusions.

Highlights

Human body produces oxygen-contain free radicals and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) as byproducts of physiological and biochemical processes in metabolism
The same effects has been reported by Moeini et al (2006) who observed 2, 6, and 4-fold decreases in plant height, leaf area, and fresh yield, respectively, in basil (Ocimum basilicum) plants cultivated under constant water stress for 6
Marley et al (2014), found that peppermint plants treated with different concentrations of elicitors increased the hesperidin and rosmarinic acid in leaves, among other phenolic compounds, and they found some compounds, such as coumaric acid, luteolin, quercetin, naringenin, and vanillin, in elicit-treated plants but not in controls. These results suggest that MeJA application may cause a state of oxidative stress in the plant, resulting in increased production and synthesis of different phenolic compounds

Summary

Introduction

Human body produces oxygen-contain free radicals and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) as byproducts of physiological and biochemical processes in metabolism. Polyphenols and flavonoids have protective effect against free radicals in the human body (Moon et al, 2006; van Dam et al, 2013). Phenolic compounds are a class of secondary plant compounds have different physiological effect in human body and promote many benefits to human health. Teas, wines, vegetables, cocoa and coffee are the rich daily source of polyphenolic compounds in human diet. Using tea beverages is one of the common ways to add phenolic compounds to the regular diet (Perez-Jimenez et al, 2010)

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