Shima Alaei
Abstract
Dracocephalum moldavica L. is an annual species of Lamiacea family whose essential oil is widely used in medicinal, food, cosmetic and health industries. Drought stress is a major factor limiting plants growth and yield. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of irrigation regime ...
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Dracocephalum moldavica L. is an annual species of Lamiacea family whose essential oil is widely used in medicinal, food, cosmetic and health industries. Drought stress is a major factor limiting plants growth and yield. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of irrigation regime on essential oil content and composition of D. moldavica L. The Irrigation regimes were 100%, 85%, 75% and 55% of field capacity (FC). The results showed that 53 essential oil components were identified in different irrigation regimes. Thirty-six, twenty-two, twenty and thirty components were identified at 100%, 85%, 75% and 55% of FC, respectively. The amounts of identified components were 99.4%, 96.6%, 97.8% and 99.9% at 100%, 85%, 75% and 55% of FC, respectively. The highest of main components were geranyl acetate, geraniol and geranial in all the irrigation regimes. The amount of oxygen-containing monoterpenes of essential oil were 81.6%, 94.5%, 91.8% and 92.0% at 100%, 85%, 75% and 55% of FC, respectively. Our results showed that essential oil content increased significantly by 3.4%, 13.8% and 27.6% at 85%, 75% and 55% of FC, respectively. Furthermore, the amount of oxygen-containing monoterpenes of D. moldavicum increased by 15.8%, 12.5% and 12.7% at 85%, 75% and 55% of FC, respectively, but oxygen-containing sesquiterpenes decreased by increasing the level of drought. In conclusion, our results indicated the advantage of drought for increasing essential oil content and oxygen-containing monoterpenes (OM), especially geranyl acetate, geraniol and geranial in D. moldavica.
Mohammad Javad Nazarideljou; Zahra Heidari
Abstract
The drastic decline of precipitation over the past decade along with overuse of chemical inputs and consequent soil fertility reduction are the most important problems in the approach to agricultural expansion, particularly in urban landscaping. Therefore, an experiment was designed to examine the effects ...
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The drastic decline of precipitation over the past decade along with overuse of chemical inputs and consequent soil fertility reduction are the most important problems in the approach to agricultural expansion, particularly in urban landscaping. Therefore, an experiment was designed to examine the effects of different irrigation levels (40, 70 and 100 % of field capacity, or FC) and different vermicompost (VC) levels (0, 2.5 and 5 %) on the morphophysiological parameters of Zinnia elegance ‘Dreamland Red’ in a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications. Results indicated a significant reduction in root/shoot ratio, flower diameter, flower longevity, water use efficiency (WUE), photosynthetic pigments and nutrient uptake, along with reduction in the FC, while VC application improved these features. Based on the results, the highest electrolyte leakage and free radicals were observed in the 40 % of FC level without VC treatment, while the highest antiradical property and phenolic compounds were obtained at the same FC level along with 2.5% VC. Moreover, the highest WUE was observed at 2.5% VC with 70% FC, compared to 40% FC with no VC application. The flower diameter and longevity, as the most important indicators of the zinnias’ quality, were significantly affected by the interaction effects of irrigation and organic fertilizers.
