https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2022.2096

Fennel outperforms ajwain and anise in the saline environment: physiological response mechanisms in germinating seeds and mature plants

Vol. 17 No. 3 (2022)
Submitted: 21 April 2022
Accepted: 17 June 2022
Published: 30 June 2022
Germination, polyphenols, salinity, medicinal plant, essential oil.
Abstract Views: 964
PDF: 579
HTML: 226
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

  • Javad Nouripour-Sisakht Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, Islamic Republic of.
  • Parviz Ehsanzadeh • ehsanzadehp@gmail.com Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, Islamic Republic of.
  • Mohammad H. Ehtemam Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, Islamic Republic of.

The potential of different medicinal species as alternative crops for saline conditions needs to be explored. Comparative physiological responses of germinating seeds and mature plants of three genotypes of anise (Pimpinella anisum L.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), and ajwain (Trachyspermum ammi L.) to salt were studied in a 2-year field experiment using 0 and 100 mcM, and a laboratory experiment using 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, and 125 mM NaCl. Catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activities increased in the salt-stricken plants of all genotypes, but only peroxidase activity of the salt-treated plants of anise genotypes and two of the fennel genotypes increased under field conditions. Chlorophyll and K+ concentrations of all genotypes decreased, but proline and Na+ concentrations and Na+/K+ increased under saline conditions. Dry mass, grain yield, and essential oil yield decreased in the salt-exposed plants across all genotypes and species. Germination, root, and shoot length were suppressed upon exposure to saline water. Despite the increasing trend of the proline and polyphenol concentrations and catalase and peroxidase activities, ascorbate peroxidase activity of germinating seeds decreased with an increase in NaCl concentration. Smaller adverse effects of salt on fennel germination attributes, grain, and essential oil yields were evident. Moreover, more significant activities of antioxidative enzymes and maintained Na+ and Na+/K+ of salt-stricken fennel plants were observed. These findings indicate that fennel germinating seeds and mature plants have a greater ability to withstand salinity than the other examined species.

Highlights
- Differential salt-induced alterations in ionic status of mature plants of anise, ajwain, and fennel.
- Boosted antioxidative enzymes activities in the stressed plants of different species.
- Greater grain yield and essential oil of stressed fennel plants compared to anise and ajwain.
- Fennel and ajwain mature plants benefit from a stronger antoxidative defense to withstand salinity.
- Polyphenols and proline accumulated in the germinating seeds of fennel and ajwain contributes to salt tolerance.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Afshari M, Rahimmalek M, 2018. Variation in essential oil composition, bioactive compounds, anatomical and antioxidant activity of Achillea aucheri, an endemic species of Iran, at different phenological stages. Chem. Biodivers. 15:e1800075:1-15.
Al‐Tabbal J, Haddad M, Bani‐Hani N, Qrunfleh I, AL‐Bashabsheha K, Al‐Einein SA, 2020. Growth and biomass yield of hydroponically grown thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) in response to brackish water‐induced stress. Irrig. Drain. 69:903-13.
Bates LS, Waldran RP, Teare ID, 1973. Rapid determination of free proline for water studies. Plant Soil 39:205-8.
Bradford MM, 1976. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein dye binding. Anal. Biochem. 72:248-54.
Bustan A, Cohen S, Malach YD, Zimmermann P, Golan R, Sagi M, Pasternak D, 2005. Effects of timing and duration of brackish irrigation water on fruit yield and quality of late summer melons. Agric. Water Manag. 74:123-34.
Canter PH, Thomas H, Ernst E, 2005. Bringing medicinal plants into cultivation: opportunities and challenges for biotechnology. Trend. Biotech. 23:180-5.
Cetin O, Celik M, 2018. Comparative morphological, anatomical, micromorphological, and palynological studies on the genera Opopanax and Crenosciadium (Apiaceae). Phytotaxa 372:035-50.
Chance B, Maehly AC, 1955 Assay of catalase and peroxidase. Method. Enzym. 2:764-75.
Chen WM, Jin N, Shi Y, Su YQ, Fei BJ, Li W, Qiao DR, Cao Y 2010. Coordinate expression of light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b gene family of photosystem II and chlorophyll a oxygenase gene regulated by salt-induced phosphorylation in Dunaliella salina. Photosynthetica 48:355-60.
Dash M, Panda SK, 2001. Salt stress induced changes in growth and enzyme activities in germinating Phaseolus mungo seeds. Biol. Plant. 44:587-9.
De la Reguera E, Veatch J, Gedan K, Tully KL, 2020. The effects of saltwater intrusion on germination success of standard and alternative crops. Env. Exp. Bot. 180:104254.
Dhima K, Vasilakoglou I, Paschalidis K, Karagiannidis N, Ilias I, 2021. Salinity tolerance evaluation of barley germplasm for marginal soil utilization. Ital. J. Agron. 16:1830.
Di Mola I, Guida G, Mistretta C, Giorio P, Albrizio R, Visconti D, Fagnano M, Mori M, 2018. Agronomic and physiological response of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) to soil salinity. Ital. J. Agron. 13:31-9.
Grewal HS, 2010. Water uptake, water use efficiency, plant growth and ionic balance of wheat, barley, canola and chickpea plants on a sodic vertosol with variable subsoil NaCl salinity. Agric. Water Manag. 97:148-56.
Herzog V, Fahimi H, 1973. Determination of the activity of peroxidase. Ann. Biochem. 55:554-62.
Hodaei M, Rahimmalek M, Arzani A, Talebi M, 2018. The effect of water stress on phytochemical accumulation, bioactive compounds and expression of key genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis in Chrysanthemum morifolium L. Ind. Crops Prod. 120:295-304.
Jaleel CA, Sankar B, Sridharan R, Paneerselvam R, 2008. Soil salinity alters growth, chlorophyll content, and secondary metabolite accumulation in Catharanthus roseus. Turk. J. Biol. 32:79-83.
Khamesi F, Amini A, Ehsanzadeh P, 2020. Chickpea response to saline water: Concurrence of ion homeostasis sustainment and antioxidative defense measures. S. Afr. J. Bot. 133:245-52.
Kim SH, Ahn YO, Ahn M-J, Lee H-S, Kwak S-S, 2012. Down-regulation of b-carotene hydroxylase increases b-carotene and total carotenoids enhancing salt stress tolerance in transgenic cultured cells of sweet potato. Phytochem. 74:69-78.
Kranner I, Minibayeva FV, Richard P, Beckett RP, Seal CE, 2010. What is stress? Concepts, definitions and applications in seed science. New Phytol. 188:655-73.
Kubala S, Wojtyla L, Quinet M, Lechowska K, Lutts S, Garnczarska M, 2015. Enhanced expression of the proline synthesis gene P5CSA in relation to seed osmopriming improvement of Brassica napus germination under salinity stress. J. Plant. Physiol. 183:1-12.
Laghmouchi Y, Belmehdi O, Bouyahya A, Senhaji NK, Abrini J, 2017. Effect of temperature, salt stress and pH on seed germination of medicinal plant Origanum compactum. Biocatal. Agric. Biotech. 10:156-60.
Lichtenthaler HK, Wellburn WR, 1994. Determination of total carotenoids and chlorophylls a and b of leaf extracts in different solvents. Biochem. Soc. Transac. 11:591-2.
Lim J-H, Park K-J, Kim B-K, Jeong J-W, Kim H-J, 2012. Effect of salinity stress on phenolic compounds and carotenoids in buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum M.) sprout. Food Chem. 15:1065-70.
Makarana G, Kumar A, Yadav RK, Kumar R, Soni PG, Lata C, Sheoran P, 2019. Effect of saline water irrigations on physiological, biochemical and yield attributes of dual purpose pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) varieties. Ind. J. Agric. Sci. 89:624-33.
Nakano Y, Asada K, 1981. Hydrogen peroxide is scavenged by ascorbate-specific peroxidase in spinach chloroplasts. Plant Cell Physiol. 22:867-80.
Olszowy M, 2019. What is responsible for antioxidant properties of polyphenolic compounds from plants? Plant Physiol. Biochem. 144:135-43.
Ozturk OF, Shukla MK, Stringam B, Picchioni GA, Gard C, 2018. Irrigation with brackish water changes evapotranspiration, growth and ion uptake of halophytes. Agric. Water Manag. 195:142-53.
Pujol JA, Calvo JF, Ramirez-Diaz L, 2000. Recovery of germination from different osmotic conditions by four halophytes from Southeastern Spain. Ann. Bot. 85:279-86.
Rajjou L, Duval M, Gallardo K, Catusse J, Bally J, Job C, Job D, 2012. Seed germination and vigor. Ann. Rev. Plant Biol. 63:507-33.
Ranal MA, Santana DG, 2006. How and why to measure the germination process? Brazil. J. Bot. 29:1-11.
Rivero RM, Ruiz JM, Pablo C Garcia PC, Lopez-Lefebre LR, Sanchez E, Romero L, 2001. Resistance to cold and heat stress: accumulation of phenolic compounds in tomato and watermelon plants. Plant Sci. 160:315-21.
Roy PR, Tahjib-Ul-Arif M, Polash MAS, Hossen MZ, Hossain MA, 2019. Physiological mechanisms of exogenous calcium on alleviating salinity-induced stress in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Physiol. Mol. Biol. Plants 25:611-24.
Saberali SF, Moradi M, 2019. Effect of salinity on germination and seedling growth of Trigonella foenum-graecum, Dracocephalum moldavica, Satureja hortensis and Anethum graveolens. J. Saud Soci. Agric. Sci. 18:316-23.
Sabra A, Daayf F, Renault S, 2012. Differential physiological and biochemical responses of three Echinacea species to salinity stress. Sci. Hortic. 135:23-31.
Santos CV, 2004. Regulation of chlorophyll biosynthesis and degradation by salt stress in sunflower leaves. Sci. Hortic. 103:93-9.
Shafeiee M, Ehsanzadeh P, 2019. Physiological and biochemical mechanisms of salinity tolerance in several fennel genotypes: existence of clearly-expressed genotypic variations. Ind. Crops Prod. 132:311-8.
Shalaby S, Horwitz BA, 2015. Plant phenolic compounds and oxidative stress: integrated signals in fungal-plant interactions. Curr. Genet. 61:347-57.
Shavrukov Y, Langridge P, Tester M, Nevo E, 2010. Wide genetic diversity of salinity tolerance, sodium exclusion and growth in wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides. Breed. Sci. 60:426-35.
Singh RP, Murthy KNC, Jayaprakasha GK, 2002. Studies on the antioxidant activity of pomegranate peel and seed extracts using in vitro models. J. Agric. Food Chem. 50:81-6.
Song SQ, Lei YB, Tian XR, 2005. Proline metabolism and cross-tolerance to salinity and heat stress in germinating wheat seeds. Rus. J. Plant Physiol. 52:793-800.
Tanaka A, Ito H, Tanaka R, Tanaka NK, Yoshida K, Okada K, 1998. Chlorophyll a oxygenase (CAO) is involved in chlorophyll b formation from chlorophyll a. Proceed. National Acad. Sci. 95:12719-23.
Thakur M, Sharma AD, 2005. Salt-stress-induced proline accumulation in germinating embryos: Evidence suggesting a role of proline in seed germination. J. Arid Environ. 62:517-23.
Vafadar Shoshtari Z, Rahimmalek M, Sabzalian MR, Hosseini H, 2017. Essential oil and bioactive compounds variation in myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) as affected by seasonal variation and salt stress. Chem. Biodivers. 14:e1600365:1-10.
Yasar F, Ellialtioglu S, Yildiz K, 2008. Effect of salt stress on antioxidant defense systems, lipid peroxidation, and chlorophyll content in green bean. Rus. J. Plant Physiol. 55:782-6.
Zhou Y, Chu P, Chen H, Li Y, Liu J, Ding Y, Edward WTT, Liwen J, Keqiang W, Huang S, 2012. Overexpression of Nelumbo nucífera metallothioneins 2a and 3 enhances seed germination vigor in Arabidopsis. Planta 235:523-37.
Zhu H, Bañuelos G, 2016. Influence of salinity and boron on germination, seedling growth and transplanting mortality of guayule: a combined growth chamber and greenhouse study. Ind. Crops Prod. 92:236-43.

How to Cite

Nouripour-Sisakht, J., Ehsanzadeh, P., & Ehtemam, M. H. . (2022). Fennel outperforms ajwain and anise in the saline environment: physiological response mechanisms in germinating seeds and mature plants. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 17(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2022.2096
Copyright (c) 2022 The Author(s) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.