Effect of ethyl methane sulfonate and gamma ray on physiological and phytochemical characteristics of papaver (Papaver macrostomum Boiss. and A. Huet)

Papaver macrostomum Boiss. and A. Huet is a herbaceous ornamental plant that grows as a wild flower in different areas of Iran. It produces different medicinal compounds. Experiment was conducted to study the effect of ethyl methane sulfonate and gamma ray on physiological and phytochemical characteristics of papaver. The experiment was carried out as a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications in greenhouse conditions from 2017-2018. Experimental treatments included ethyl methane sulfonate at four levels (0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%) and Gamma ray at four levels (0, 10, 50 and 100 Gy). Characteristics of chlorophyll, carotenoid, flavonoid, phenol, and sugar content as well as antioxidant activity were measured. The results showed that treatments had a significant effect on the studied factors. Mutation treatments increased the characteristics and the highest amount of chlorophyll, carotenoids, antioxidant activity, and sugar were belonged to the treatment of 0.1% ethyl methane sulfonate and the highest amount of phenol and flavonoid was observed in the treatment of 0.3% ethyl methane sulfonate. Overall, the results showed that the use of mutagenic agents can affect the physiological and phytochemical traits of P. macrostomum. However, the mutagenic agent of ethyl methane sulfonate alone was more effective than the other treatments.