Investigation of the effect of habitats height on phytochemical and morphological characteristics of Ziziphus nummularia (Burm.f.) Wight. & Arn. - A case study of the habitats of Khuzestan province

Ziziphus nummularia is a thorny shrub belonging to the Rhamnaceae family which has a variety of phytochemical compounds. This study was conducted with the aim of phytochemical and morphological evaluation of Z. nummularia populations in different heights of habitats in Khuzestan province.The leaves and fruits of Z. nummularia were collected from different heights of natural habitats of Khuzestan province, including altitude groups of 0-200, 200-400, 400-800 and 800-1000 meters above sea level in summer and autumn. The morphological characteristics were measured using accurate measuring tools and also phytochemical characteristics were measured using a Spectrophotometer.The results showed that different morphological and phytochemical traits including leaf length, thorn length, ripe fruit weight, ripe fruit diameter, number of thorns, and also content of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, tannins and saponins were significantly different in various habitats of Khuzestan province. Based on the cluster analysis of morphological traits, the trees in habitats with a height of 200-400 m were different from other groups. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that leaf length and width, saponin and phenol content of leaf and fruit, and leaf tannin content were identified as the most important traits with the highest correlation factor for population identification. Altitude above sea level is an important factor that had a significant impact on various morphological and phytochemical traits of Z. nummularia, including the quality and quantity of leaves and fruits.