Nano-ZnO Effect on Yield, Quantity and Quality of Salvia leriifolia Benth. Essential oils Under Salinity Stress Conditions

In medicinal plants, the production of secondary metabolites, especially essential oils, are affected by various environmental factors, including salinity. In this study, in order to investigate the effect of different levels of salinity stress and nano- ZnO on the quantitative and qualitative yield of essential oil (EO) composition of Salvia leriifolia Benth. a factorial experiment was performed with five salinity levels (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl) and three levels of nano-ZnO (0, 2 and 4 mg. liter -1) in a completely randomized design with three replications in the greenhouse of Mashhad Islamic Azad University in 2019. Extraction of EO from the vegetative shoot of the plant was carried out by water distillation using clevenger apparatus. EO analysis was performed using a gas chromatograph and chromatography attached to a mass spectrometer. The analysis of EOs was carried out by Gas chromatography/mass spectrometric (GC/MS). Based on the results, the effect of different levels of salinity stress on dry weight, EO percent and its yield was significant, but the application of zinc nanooxide only affected the EO and its yield. With increasing salinity stress, leaves dry weight, EO percent and EO yield significantly decreased, but all traits increased by increasing the nano-ZnO concentration at high salinity levels. 1, 8-cinnamol, was the highest composition of plant EO, which increased by 43% with increasing salinity. isopinocaruel, carotene, and endobronol compounds decreased at low salinity levels and then increased at 200 mM salinity level. Also, increasing the nano-ZnO concentration increased the levels of endo-Borneol, 1, 8-cineol and ß-pinene and decreased the levels of isopinocarveol, carotol and α-cadinol.