Ornamental plants
G.H. Homayouni; M.R. Raji; A. Ehteshamnia; M. Aalifar
Abstract
IntroductionClimate change and environmental pollutants are effective on the growth of different plant species. Plants in general and trees in particular react to climatic and environmental changes. Air pollution and climate changes have a significant effect on the growth, quality and phytochemical characteristics ...
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IntroductionClimate change and environmental pollutants are effective on the growth of different plant species. Plants in general and trees in particular react to climatic and environmental changes. Air pollution and climate changes have a significant effect on the growth, quality and phytochemical characteristics of trees in urban green spaces, because chronic injuries are caused by continuous absorption of pollutants. The metropolis of Tehran is known as one of the most immigrant-friendly cities in the country. The main environmental problems of Tehran city are the lack of natural air ventilation, the persistence of pollutants, dryness of the air, the existence of dust, the noise and the destruction of natural ecosystems. Air quality is related to the chemical state of the atmosphere at any time and place. Like weather, air quality affects everyone. Materials and MethodsThe current research was carried out in the city of Tehran in the form of a completely random design with three replication. This research was carried out with the aim of investigating the effect of ten-year climate changes and environmental pollutants on the chemical properties of plantain trees in 4 regions of Valiasr street of Tehran (regions 1, 3, 6 and 11). In this study, four areas of the city include Valiasr Street in area 1 from Tajrish Square to Parkway (average height above sea level 1611 meters and average slope 20.17), area 3 from Parkway to Hemat Bridge (average height 1501 meters and average slope 5.89), zone 6 from Hammet bridge to Valiasr intersection (height 1308 meters and average slope 5.17) and zone 11 from Valiasr intersection to railway square (average height 1152 meters above sea level and average slope 2.19) were selected for the study. Region 1 was selected as a clean or low pollution region, region 3 as a polluted region one, region 6 as a polluted region two and region 11 as a polluted region three. The obtained data were analyzed by ANOVA using SAS 9.4 software, comparison of averages was done with Duncan's test and graphs and statistical tables were drawn by Excel software. The difference of traits in three times was evaluated using t-test. Results and DiscussionData homogeneity test was not significant by Bartlett's test, which shows that the variances are homogeneous in four locations. Due to the homogeneity of the data and the non-significance of Bartlett's test, the data of this experiment were subjected to combined analysis. The results showed that the highest amount of ion leakage was obtained from regions 6 and 11. The highest relative humidity content was shown in regions 3 and 6. With the increase of environmental pollutants in regions 3 and 11 in compared to region1 ,the amount of anthocyanins and antioxidants increased. In addition, the activity of catalase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzymes in plantain tree leaves showed a significant increase in areas with more pollution (11, 6 and 3) due to lower sea level height and slope gradient in compared to region 1. Many researchers have also stated in numerous reports the existence of a relationship between the place of growth and its effect on the quality and quantity of phytochemical compounds of plants. In general, air pollution and decreasing sea level height and slope led to increased ion leakage, malondialdehyde, relative leaf water content, flavonoids, anthocyanins, antioxidants, phenols, and antioxidant enzyme activity. ConclusionsIn the present study, significant difference was observed in the phytochemical content, quantity and quality of these compounds, in plane trees (Platanus orientalis) growing along Valiasr Street in Tehran. Environmental conditions at the growth site play a key role in determining the quantity and quality of phytochemical characteristics by influencing the total amount of active substances, the composition of bioactive elements, and dry matter production. Among these, altitude above sea level is considered one of the most important environmental factors affecting the phytochemical composition of plants. In addition, other environmental factors that shape the climate of a region—such as temperature, humidity, and air quality—also influence the accumulation of physiological and phytochemical compounds in plants. Furthermore, Several studies have reported a relationship between the growing location and its impact on the quality and quantity of phytochemical compounds in plants.
Medicinal Plants
M. Salehi; R. Kalvandi
Abstract
Introduction Medicinal plants have played an essential role in the development of human culture. Medicinal plants are resources of new drugs and many of the modern medicines are produced indirectly from plants. Although the production of secondary metabolites is controlled by genes, their production ...
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Introduction Medicinal plants have played an essential role in the development of human culture. Medicinal plants are resources of new drugs and many of the modern medicines are produced indirectly from plants. Although the production of secondary metabolites is controlled by genes, their production is considerably influenced by environmental conditions, so environmental factors cause changes in the growth of medicinal plants as well as the amount of active substances. Essential oil quantity and quality are affected by the different environmental conditions. Physiological, morphological and genetic variations were seen in populations of species that occurred in different habitats. These variations were created in response to contrasting environmental conditions. In many plant species, studies on the pattern of variation in populations have shown the localized populations are adapted to the particular environmental conditions of their habitat. The genus Phlomis L. (Lamiaceae) includes about 113 perennial herbs or shrubs distributed in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Some of the Phlomis species have been reported for their traditional uses as analgesic, diuretic, tonic, anti-diarrheic agents and to treat various conditions such as gastric ulcer, inflammation, diabetes, hemorrhoids and wounds. In Flora of Iran, this genus is represented by 20 species, including Phlomis olivieri Benth.Materials and Methods This study was conducted to evaluate the morphological and phytochemical diversity of eleven populations of P. olivieri Benth. from different districts of Hamedan province in 2021. Traits such as plant height, stem diameter, leaf length and width, fresh and dry weight of the flowering branch, inflorescence length, fresh and dry weight of the plant, number of inflorescence cycles, essential oil percentage were measured. In order to investigate the physical and chemical properties of soil, soil samples were collected from a depth of 30 cm. Then they were transferred to the soil laboratory. Plants samples were collected in the flowering stage and were dried at 25-30°C. They were stored in envelopes at 22±3°C away from the sun. For extracting the essential oil of the samples, 100 gr of the plant was milled and then distilled with water. Hydrodistillation lasted for 4 hours. The main components of essential oil were identified and determined by gas chromatography in the Institute of Medicinal Plants in Karaj. Gas chromatography was carried out on Agilent 6890 with capillary column 30m*0.25 mm, 0.25 mm film thickness. The grouping of populations based on morphological and phytochemical traits was done by cluster analysis in SPSS using the Ward method. Also, the traits correlation (quantitative) was done using the Pearson method.Results and Discussion According to the results, the highest fresh and dry weight of flowering branch (6.96 g and 3.48 g) and also the highest fresh and dry weight of the plant (11.77 g and 5.86 g) belonged to the Koohani population. The tallest inflorescence (24.2 cm) belonged to the Jowzan population and the shortest inflorescence belonged to the Gammasiab population (8.9 cm). The highest stem diameter (4.45 mm) was observed in the Garin population. The maximum plant height (49.4 cm) was related to the Rahdarkhaneh population, which was not significantly different from the Garin population, and the minimum was related to the population of Garmak (31 cm), which was not significantly different from the population of Gammasiab (33.50 cm). Also, 31 compounds were identified in this plant essential oil that caryophyllene, germacrene D, and (E)-b-Farnesene had the highest percentage of essential oil constituents. In this study, the highest amount of essential oil (0.04%) was related to the Koohani population which had the lowest altitude among other populations. Therefore, it seems that environmental factors, as well as genetic factors, have been effective in creating diversity in morphological and phytochemical characteristics of this plant.Conclusion The results obtained from this study showed that P. olivieri Benth. populations gathered from different regions of Hamedan province, had a high diversity in terms of essential oil content. The results showed that in addition to genetic factors, environmental and climatic factors also affect phytochemical traits. In this study, the highest amount of essential oil was produced in the Koohani population (located in Nahavand city) with the lowest altitude among other populations. According to the research on the essential oil components of P. olivieri in different regions of Iran, the components of its essential oil and their percentages are completely different; so, some of the components that are seen in one region, are not observed in another region, and this issue emphasizes on the effect of climatic conditions. This difference is quite evident even in the studied populations in a province.
Mitra Mohammadi Bazargani
Abstract
Introduction: The phytochemical and biological properties of medicinal plants depend on the climatic conditions of the area under development, the growth stage, genetic factors and other factors. Therefore the study of the wild flora in the geographical areas with different climatic conditions ...
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Introduction: The phytochemical and biological properties of medicinal plants depend on the climatic conditions of the area under development, the growth stage, genetic factors and other factors. Therefore the study of the wild flora in the geographical areas with different climatic conditions is important. It has been proved that the extract of Epilobium has high antioxidant capacity, which is associated with a high concentration of flavonoids content. Studies on five species of Epilobium genus (E. parviflorum schreb., E. roseum schreb., E. tetragonum L., E. montanum L., E. angustifolium L.), had shown that E. parviflorum had the highest antioxidant capacity among studied species. The occurrence of E. parviflorum in wide range of altitudinal zones in Iran makes it as ideal species to study the variation of antioxidant capacity among ecotypes. The present study aims to screen Epilobium parviflorum ecotypes (n=16) of Iran in terms of antioxidant capacity (AOX). Materials and Methods: Total phenol content (TPH), Total flavonoid (TFL), antioxidant capacity (AOX) and anthocyanin content (ACY) were measured by Folin- Ciocalteu, flavonoid-aluminum chloride (AlCl3), Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and the differential PH methods, respectively. Regression analysis was used for studying the relationships between antioxidant capacity, altitude and latitude. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine whether there is a linear relationship between variables. Results and Discussion: There was a high correlation between total phenol content and total flavonoid in ecotypes (r = 0.7, P = 0.002, n = 16). There was a positive and significant correlation between AOX content with TPH (r = 0.71, P = 0.002, n = 16) and also between AOX with TFL (r = 0.73, P = 0.001, n = 16). According to several studies, high antioxidant capacity has been attributed to high concentrations of flavonoids and phenols, which is consistent with the results observed in this study. The results also showed that the Iranian E. parviflorum ecotypes had considerably TFL, TPH and AOX content as compare to previous reports on E. parviflorum (in other country) and also other Epilobium species. Principal component analysis showed that the two main components explained 87.87% total variation. The high contribution of the two first components suggested a considerable correlation between three phytochemical traits, the contribution of the first component alone was 62.13% and the portion of the second component was 25.74%. In the first component, TFL, TPH and AOX were with coefficients of 0.78, 0.77 and 0.88, respectively. The high contribution of the two first components had a significant relationship between three phytochemical traits. The ecotypes of E. parviflorum were clearly separated based on the first principal component. Ten ecotypes had a correlation with the first main component (PC1) shown by TFL, TPH and AOX. Among them six ecotypes had a positive correlation (r> 0.6) and 4 ecotypes had a negative correlation (r> 0.6) with the first main component (PC1). Thus, out of the 16 ecotypes of E. parviflorum in Iran, six ecotypes including EPP3, EPP6, EPP8, EPP10, EPP13 and EPP9 had the desired content of TFL, TPH and subsequently antioxidant capacity, most of which belonged to the Zagros and crossroad of Zagros and Alborz mountains. The ecotypes that did not have the desired content of TFL, TPH and AOX (negative correlation with the first main component, PC1) mostly belong to the Alborz Mountains. The highest levels of TPH, TFL and AOX capacity were observed for the Sangan ecotype with values of 1761, 32.64 mg/g DW and 93.50 mM/g DW, respectively, and the lowest was observed in Kaleybar ecotype. Out of 16 ecotypes, 6 ecotypes had the desired content of TFL, TPH, and subsequently AOX, most of which belonged to the Zagros and crossroad of Zagros and Alborz Mountains. Regression analysis showed no relation between AOX capacity with altitude (R2 = 0.04) and also with latitude (R2 = 0.14). Conclusion: This research is the first study that screens AOX capacity by including multiple ecotypes (n=16) from E. parviflorum species to evaluate intra ecotypes phytochemical variation for E. parviflorum. We found positive and significant correlation between TFL, TPH and AOX. We did not find any significant correlation between TFL, TPH content and AOX capacity of E. parviflorum with altitude above sea. Our results also showed Iranian E. parviflorum ecotypes (especially Sangan ecotype, EPP10) have considerably TFL, TPH and AOX capacity compared to previous reports. The results of this study indicate that there is a remarkable variation among Iranian E. parviflorum ecotypes for the studied traits, which can be used to carry out breeding programs and protection of germplasm.
Mohsen Eisapoor; Khodayar Hemmati; Nastaran Hemmati
Abstract
Introduction: Horsemint (Mentha longifolia L.) is a valuable medicinal and aromatic plant belonging to Lamiaceae family. It was reported that the contents and composition of perceived pharmacological properties varied significantly among populations. The genus Mentha L. (Lamiaceae), is widely distributed ...
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Introduction: Horsemint (Mentha longifolia L.) is a valuable medicinal and aromatic plant belonging to Lamiaceae family. It was reported that the contents and composition of perceived pharmacological properties varied significantly among populations. The genus Mentha L. (Lamiaceae), is widely distributed in all continents (except in South America and Antarctica). The systematic of the genus is not very elucidated because of the strong morphologic variations, levels of ploidy (2n = 2x = 24 to 2n = 6x = 96), and hybridizations intra- and interspecific (or between spontaneous and cultivated forms). M. longifolia or horsemint is a fast-growing and perennial herb which cultivated in all regions. The species possesses antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. The antimicrobial properties of the essential oils can be attributed to the presence of pulegone, menthone and neomenthone because they can destroy the structure of different polysaccharides, fatty acids and phospholipids by altering the permeability of the cell membrane and destroying the bacterial wall. The essential oils of horsemint are said to be cyclohexane and aromatic, and pulegone is the main compound of these oils has a definite aroma in the range of intense to spicy mint. The effects of environmental conditions on the plant growth and development, reproduction and distribution are well known in plant ecology. Many studies have been carried out about the relationships among plant chemical contents, biological activity and environmental variables in the natural and cultivated plant species. This information has been used to determine the medicinal value and economic importance of plant products.
Materials and Methods: In this research, the effects of six habitats with different altitudes (habitats of Amol city) on some morphological and biochemical characteristics of horsemint plants were investigated in a completely randomized design with three replications. This study was done to compare the amount of pulegone, total phenol, total flavonoids, antioxidant activity, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid and also morphological features of horsemint such as number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, number of flowers and number of nodes. For antioxidant properties using DPPH method in 517 nm wavelength, total amount of phenol using Folin-Ciocalteu method in 765 nm wavelength and the total amount of flavonoid were done using the aluminum chloride method in 415 nm wavelength and they were measured by spectrophotometer. Essential oil was extracted from dried aerial parts using distillation by Clevenger apparatus for 3 hours. Gas chromatography (GC) was used to measure pulegone.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the altitude and ecotype significantly affecting the growth and biochemical characteristics of horsemint plant. The highest number of leaves (25) and the shoots (27) of horsemint were obtained in the Gat Lash region with 2000 meters and Siozmin with 1850 meters above sea level, respectively. Gat Lash and Siozmin had the highest and lowest content of photosynthetic pigments, respectively. Although there was no significant difference between the content of phenol and flavonoids in different habitats, the highest rates were observed in the Pardemeh and Gat Lash habitats. The results showed that the highest and lowest oil were obtained from ecotypes of Gat Lesh with 2000 meters and Vash Verin with 2300 meters above sea level, respectively. As the height increased, the amount of pulegone was also increased in the leaves, so that the highest amount of pulegone was found in Pardemeh )6069 ppm) habitat by 2600 meters above sea level.
Conclusions: Generally, for obtaining the highest essential oil content and pulegone, the best ecotypes were Gat Lash and Pardemeh habitats, respectively. Due to the importance and usage of secondary metabolites in the human life, investigating the relationship between environmental conditions with the production and accumulation of secondary metabolites in plants can be very useful. Our results showed that the climatic conditions had a significant effect on the morphological characteristics of the horsemint, thereby increasing or decreasing the essential oil. In the present study, the best habitat for the highest pulegone was Pardemeh habitat but the habitat of Gat Lash could be a suitable habitat for domestication and cultivation of this plant because of its higher essential oil yield and relatively good pulegone content. For this purpose, it is recommended to study different habitats of this species in other parts of the country for finding the best ecotypes.
