Canonical Correlation between Morphological and Phytochemical Characteristics of Five Varieties of Phalaenopsis Orchids

 Phalaenopsis is one of the beautiful and commercial species of orchid family that there is little research on its medicinal properties. Phalaenopsis orchids can be grown outdoors in warm, humid conditions that are damp but not wet, in a location that is shady but bright. Since the introduction of orchid meristem culture in 1960, branching in micro-propagation methods develop based on using two clearly different culture schemes. It have been used from medicinal properties of orchids for anti-rheumatic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-cancer, anti-seizure, diuretic, nutrient protection, relaxation, anti-aging, wound healing, hypoglycemia, anti-tumor, antimicrobial, antibacterial, anti-oxidants and anti-diarrhea.
 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the canonical correlation between morphological and phytochemical characteristics of five phalaenopsis orchid varieties: Nottingham, Bucharest, Andorra, Memphis, and Dubrovnik. Micro-propagation of orchid seeds was performed after sterilization of capsules by bleach and ethanol. Leaf and root organs of 5 orchid varieties were harvested from Chen medium in Institute of Agricultural Research, University of Zabol, on 2020. The sliced samples were dried in an oven at 50 °C for 72 hours, after separating the leaves and roots of each variety. The powdered leaves and roots of each variety (5 g) were separately immersed in 50 ml of ethanol for 24 hours at room temperature. Then the extracts were placed on a shaker at room temperature at 120 rpm.
 The results showed that the first two canonical variables were significant and third variable was not significant. The first canonical variable has the highest special value of 65.83 and the second and third canonical variables have 4.59 and 0.10 special values, respectively. According to this research the first canonical variable with the highest special values, square of canonical correlation and the most cumulative percentages should be studied in all morphological and phytochemical characteristics. Significant canonical correlation in morphological characteristics fit 94% of the total variance of physiological variables, while significant canonical variables in phytochemical characteristics fit 100% of the variance of phytochemical characteristics. Due to the fact that phalaenopsis orchid flower has many leaf and root wastes, the findings of this study show that due to the medicinal properties of this plant, we can reduce the waste of this plant in greenhouses and production centers of this flower. In this study, the amount of phenol, flavonoid and antioxidants were determined. Also the relationship between morphological and phytochemical traits showed that this plant has medicinal properties. The lowest number of leaves belongs to Memphis variety and the highest number of leaves belongs to Nottingham variety, among the studied varieties. Therefore, it can be concluded that the roots are longer and shorter in orchid varieties with white (Nottingham) and purple (Memphis) flower respectively. Also, the second focal variable of root trait with the highest coefficient had a negative correlation with the number of leaves and root length, which shows that in the second correlation of the number of leaves and root length, the number of roots will decrease. In the second focal variable, the number of roots had a positive focal correlation with leaf length. That is, the closer we get to the second center of correlations between morphological traits, the more direct and positive becomes the relationship between root number and leaf length traits.
 According to the results and high percentage of fitness in phytochemical characteristics, it can be concluded that phytochemical traits can more precisely express the correlation between the traits. Also it showed significance of canonical correlation between two variable groups, the relationship between phytochemical and morphological traits of five varieties of phalaenopsis orchid. In general, the results of this study showed orchid varieties have high phenolic and flavonoid compounds and have the highest restraint power of free radical in canonical correlation, and they can be used as medicine. In this study, it was found that Phalaenopsis orchid varieties had phenolic content and good antioxidant capacity relatively and there was a high positive correlation between morphological and phytochemical traits and enhanced with adding the plant's length or number of leaves containing phytochemical compounds. Also, according to the results of this study and similar findings in other research, it was found that the production of secondary metabolites of orchids and other plants under the influence of genetic and environmental conditions can affect the production and amounts of chemical compounds and medicinal performance of plants.