Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of exogenous application of salicylic acid concentrations on the physiological and biochemical traits and essential oil content of chamomile under normal and heat stress conditions as induced by delayed sowing. The experiments were conducted during 2011–2012 as a factorial using a randomized complete block design with three replications, in a very hot region. The factors included five salicylic acid concentrations (0 (control), 1, 10, 25 and 100 mg·L−1) and three chamomile cultivars (Bushehr, Bona, Bodegold). The seeds of chamomile were sown on two different sowing dates including an optimum planting date and a late planting date. The physiological traits (plant height, capitol diameter, 1000 grain weight, fresh and dried flower weight), total chlorophyll, proline and essential oil content were investigated. Analysis of variance showed that the effect of the environmental conditions (normal and heat stress) was significant on all physiological and biochemical traits with the exception of the essential oil content. The heat stress decreased physiological traits and total chlorophyll in comparison with the normal conditions but it had no significant effect on the essential oil content. Findings indicated that the application of exogenous salicylic acid improves essential oil content in chamomile cultivars under environmental heat stress conditions.
Highlights
Salicylic acid (SA) is a well-known endogenous plant signal molecule involved in biochemical pathways, disease resistance and many plant responses [1]
It was shown that the drought stress decreased the physiological parameters and apigenin content in German chamomile but it had no significant effect on the essential oil content [10]
Salicylic acid can influence the quality of chamomile essential oil. The results of this experiment illustrated that heat stress caused a significant reduction in the physiological characteristics and chlorophyll content, but it had no significant effect on the essential oil content
Summary
Salicylic acid (SA) is a well-known endogenous plant signal molecule involved in biochemical pathways, disease resistance and many plant responses [1]. SA is a signaling molecule that regulates plant responses to heat stress and disease resistance. It can change to increase heat-induced Hsp/Hsc accumulation in higher plants [2,3]. Agriculture 2016, 6, 31 for the establishment of systemic acquired resistance in plants [3]. Through the expression of genes codifying toward enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, can increase plant cell productivity [4]. Soluble phenolic compounds increase in chamomile plants by using salicylic acid [1]. Chamomile is one of the most crucial medicinal plants in the world which has many utilizations in the food, pharmaceutical, hygienic and cosmetic industries
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