Effect of altitude on some secondary metabolites of the medicinal plant (Sambucus ebulus L.) in three different habitats of Mazandaran province

Aqti (Sambucus ebulus L.) is one of the valuable medicinal plants that has a wide distribution along the forests, roadsides and meadows of northern Iran. Different organs of the plant, including leaf, stem, root and fruit, were collected to investigate the effect of elevation on some biochemical compounds, including phenol, flavonoid, antioxidant capacity and catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). The sampling was carried out in late summer in Sari, Babool and Amol districts and at elevations of 0-100, 500-600 and 900-1000 meters above sea level with three replications in the form of a completely random design. The results indicated that elevation and the interaction of elevation and region had a significant effect on the amount of all secondary metabolites examined. With the increase in elevation, the amounts of CAT, GPX and APX enzymes have increased. Also, the antioxidant capacity has increased with the increase in elevation above sea level. Considering that these compounds are among the most important secondary compounds in medicinal plants, it can be concluded that the most effective compounds of the Aqti medicinal plant are found at high elevations. The highest correlation was determined between antioxidant capacity and flavonoid (r = 0.958); antioxidant capacity showed a significant correlation with all investigated traits (P≤0.01 and P≤0.05). In general, the results show that the medicinal plant Aqti is rich in antioxidant properties and can be used as a plant source of antioxidant compounds in the food and medicinal industries.