Effects of soil water deficit on morphological traits and essential oil compounds of some Thymus daenensis Celak populations

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Natural Resources, Research and Education Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Qom.

2 No. 256, Unit 3, Mufateh St.

10.22092/ijrfpbgr.2024.364379.1454

Abstract

Background and purpose:
Thymus daenensis Celak is a medicinal and aromatic species widely used in the health, pharmaceutical and food industries. Most of the country's needs are met through harvesting from natural areas. Therefore, expanding this species' cultivation in agricultural lands is necessary. Since a large area of ​​these lands is exposed to drought stress, this research was conducted to evaluate the effect of different irrigation levels on the characteristics of its various populations at the Pardisan Agricultural Research Station in Qom and under greenhouse conditions.
Materials and methods:
This experiment was carried out as a two-factor factorial and in the form of a completely randomized design (CRD) in six replications (pots). The first factor included thirteen Denai thyme populations, and the second factor included irrigation levels at 80% (control), 60% and 40% of field capacity (FC). Twelve morphological and functional traits were measured with the appearance of flowering signs. For extracting the essential oil, the water distillation method was used by the Clevenger apparatus, according to the British Pharmacopoeia, for four hours. This has the highest efficiency in extracting essential oil. Variance analysis was performed, and the means were compared through Duncan's multiple range test. Also, the populations were entered into cluster analysis under two conditions: normal and irrigation at 40% of field capacity. To check essential oil quality, essential oil samples were diluted with dichloromethane and injected into the GC/MS. The corresponding chromatograms and mass spectra were obtained. The composition of the essential oils was identified using the compound inhibition index, examining the mass spectra of each compound and comparing  them to standard compounds, and using the information in the mass spectrometer library. Quantitative calculations (determining the percentage of each compound) were done using GC's software.
Results:
The variance analysis of the data showed a significant difference between genotypes and drought stress levels for most of the investigated traits at an error probability level of 1 or 5%. Also, the interaction effect of drought stress × genotype was significant on all the measured traits except the shoot dry weight. A decrease in soil moisture showed a sharp decline in relative water content. The root length increased with the reduction of water in the soil and reached the maximum value in the field capacity of 60%. Decreasing soil moisture to 60% FC not only did not reduce biomass but also placed it at a higher level than 80% FC moisture in some genotypes. The highest yield of essential oil was observed in 60% FC irrigation. At irrigation levels of 80% FC, 60% FC and 40% FC, respectively, Khorramabad (L1), Faridoshar (IS3) and Unknown (F) populations had the highest essential oil yield. Cluster analysis classified the masses into three groups under stress conditions. Group I consisted of 7 populations. Daran (IS2), Arak (M2) and Gharachaman (E-A) in group II were identified with average values. Group III included unknown populations, Feridunshahr and Markazi. Khorramabad and Qazvin had higher levels of thymol than other treatments under mild stress and normal conditions. Thymol values ​​decreased in most populations under severe stress conditions. The trend of carvacrol changes increased first and decreased with tension intensification.
Conclusion: 
The type and percentage of essential oil compounds changed due to population type and irrigation level. Like most plants, Thyme Danai populations showed physiological and morphological reactions to drought stress conditions. Considering the efficiency of essential oil production and the percentage of important and influential compounds of thymol and carvacrol, Khorramabad, Qazvin, and Feridunshahr populations can be selected as superior populations under normal conditions and mild water stress. The relative stability of thymol and carvacrol compounds under irrigation conditions at 40% of crop capacity suggests that Qom and Urmia populations were candidates for further drought stress tests.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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