The Biochemical Properties of Zarrin-Giah (Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss) Medicinal Plant Affected by Seaweed Extract and Amino Acid Spraying

The use of medicinal plants, as favorite sources of different metabolites for human health, has become more popular, worldwide. It is accordingly important to find methods, which may enhance the growth and quality of medicinal plants including the important medical Zarrin-giah (Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss). The plant is used for the treatment of different diseases including cancer and Alzheimer. In the presented research, the effects of different biostimulants including seaweed extracts (Wuxal Ascofol, ۱ (A۱), ۲ (A۲), and ۳ (A۳) g/L) and algaton amino acid (۱ (J۱), ۲ (J۲), and ۳ (J۳) g/L) on the biochemical properties of Zarrin-giah were investigated in the greenhouse. Different plant biochemical properties including chlorophyll contents (a, b, and total), carotenoid, flavonoid, total phenol, antioxidant activity and leaf greenness were determined. The results indicated the positive effects of the experimental treatments on the quality of Zarrin-giah by improving the biochemical properties of the plant. The algal and the amino acid treatments significantly increased the chlorophyll a content of the plant, compared with the control treatment (۰.۳۴ mg/g). This was also the case for chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll. Although there was not much difference among the algal and amino acid treatments, on the content of carotenoid, treatments A۱ (۰.۱۱۸ mg/g) and J۱ (۰.۱۱۶ mg/g) resulted in the higher carotenoid content, significantly different from the other treatments including control (۰.۱۰۲ mg/g). The highest and significantly different flavonoid contents were resulted by the A۲ (۰.۲۸%) and the J۲ (۰.۲۷۶%) treatments. Interestingly, the least flavonoid content was related to the A۳ (۰.۲۲%) treatment, even significantly less than the control treatment (۰.۲۳۶%) The J۳ treatment (۶۰۷۶.۳۳۶ mg/kg) resulted in the highest and significantly different content of total phenol. However, the least contents of the total phenol were related to the A۳ (۳۵۱۰.۵۵۶ mg/kg) and the control (۳۶۳۷.۹۸۴ mg/kg) treatments. Algal treatments were more effective on the increased activity of the antioxidants. Accordingly, treatment A۳ (۷۷.۱۶۷%) resulted in the highest and significantly different activity of antioxidant, followed by A۲ (۵۸.۹۷۴%), and the least one was resulted by control (۲۷.۴۷۳%). The highest leaf greenness (SPAD) was related to the A۲ treatment (۳۹.۹۳۳), significantly higher than the other treatments including J۲ (۳۱.۷۳۳), J۳ (۲۷.۰۳۳) and A۱ (۲۰.۰۶۷). If the proper concentrations of biostimulants including seaweed extract and amino acid treatments tested in this research are used, it is possible to enhance the quality of Zarrin-giah, because at the higher rates, they may not favorably affect the plant quality.

کلیدواژه ها:

Algal extract ، Antioxidants ، flavonoid ، Nutrients ، phenol