نشریه اکوفیتو شیمی گیاهان دارویی
سال نهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 35، پاییز 1400)

Stachys L. belonging to Lamiaceae family is one of the most important medicinal and aromatic herbs that is found in different regions of Iran. This research was aimed to compare the chemical composition of essential oils in five species of Stachys (S. lavandulifolia, S. laxa, S. inflata, S. germanica and S. byzantina), so their seeds were planted and propagated in a research farm in Khorramabad in 2018. Plants were sampled at full flowering stage. The samples were dried and ground in the shade. Essential oil extraction was performed using Clevenger apparatus and water distillation method and their compositions were determined by GC and GC / MS. The essential oil compounds were detected using GC and GC/MS. The results showed that the highest and lowest essential oil yields (w/w) with average values of 2.0 and 0.8% were obtained in S. lavandulifolia and S. byzantina, respectively. The highest amount of α-pinene with values of 6.13 and 9.9%, and the highest amount of β-phellandrene with values 19.2% and 25.1%, were obtained in S. laxa and S. inflata, respectively. The highest amount of Linalool with values of 9.9 and 3.9% were observed in S. germanica and S. inflata, respectively. Similarly, the highest amount of caryophyllene with a value of 15.6% was obtained in S. laxa species. The amount of germacrene-D in S.byzantina, S.laxa, S. lavandulifolia and S.inflata was 33.8%, 4.4%, 3.1% and 2.7%, respectively. In S. lavandulifolia, the main compounds were Bicyclogermacrene (4.6%), δ-Cadinene (6.5%), Spathulenol (6.8%), δ-Cadinol (3.1%), α-Cadinol (8.7%), respectively. As a result, due to its wide distribution in Iran, this species is introduced as one of the important species of Stachysfor cultivation and domestication.

This study was conducted to investigate the biochemical diversity and antioxidant properties of three accessions of Perovskia abrotanoides Kar. in eastern Alborz mountain range including Semnan and Mazandaran provinces. Flowering specimens were collected from three natural habitats of Damghan (station 1, 1504 m), Kordmir (station 2, 1672 m) and Shahrud (station 3, 1285 m) in July 2018. The amount of proline, protein, soluble sugars, phenolic compounds, hydrogen peroxide, potassium, copper, zinc, iron, nickel, magnesium, manganese and calcium as well as soil salinity were measured. Methanolic, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and hexane extracts were extracted by soaking method and the antioxidant activity of the extracts was evaluated using the DPPH radical scavenging capacity. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with 3 replications and the comparison of data means was performed using Duncan's test at a probability level of 5%. The results showed that the highest amount of proline and potassium was in station 1, the highest amount of protein, phenolic compounds, soil salinity and magnesium content were obtained from station 3 and the highest amount of iron was observed in station 2. Moreover, station 3 had the highest level of antioxidant activity in all extracts, and all stations had the lowest level of antioxidant activity in hexane extract. Dichloromethane extracts in stations 2 and 3 had the highest level of antioxidant activity, while in station 1 the highest level of antioxidant activity was found in methanolic extract. Therefore, we concluded that with increasing soil salinity, the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the populations of P. abrotanoides increase.

Cannabis sativa L. is an ancient crop with medicinal and industrial applications that is cultivated to use its fibers and is also an effective painkiller. Cannabinoids are terpenophenolic compounds that have only been identified in cannabis genus. In the present study, the effect of cycocel on the amount of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main cannabinoid of cannabis plant, in both male and female cannabis plants was evaluated as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications at greenhouse of Bahonar university of Kerman. The main factors included both genders of cannabis plant, male and female and different concentrations of cycocel (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/l). THC was measured by liquid chromatography and UPLC, and total soluble proteins, total soluble sugars and malondialdehyde were analyzed using a spectrophotometer. The results were showed that with increasing cycocel concentration to 500 mg / l, the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the leaves and flowers of the female cannabis significantly increased. Comparing the interaction of genders and cycocel, it was found that the active ingredient of leaves in the female plants had a higher increase than the male plants up to a concentration of 1000 mg/l. The results also demonstrated that concentration of 1000 mg/l had the highest protein content in compare to other treatments in both male and female plants. The content in male gender was higher than the female base up to 1000 mg /l, but at the concentration of 1500 mg/l the female base was better. The lowest quantities of malondialdehyde and other aldehydes was observed in both genders treated with 1000 mg /l cycocel. Overall cycocel concentrations in compare to the control increased the soluble carbohydrates and reducing sugars. According to the obtained results, to achieve the maximum active ingredient of THC, application of 1000 mg/l cycocel in female gender is recommended.

Since supplementation of plants with zinc is a solution to improve plant growth and compensate for zinc deficiency in soil, in this study to investigate the nutritional effect of 40 nm zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on morphological characteristics, seed gum and phytochemical products of leaves of a native mass of Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L (Gguar plant) from Iranshahr a completely randomized experiment with three replicates was conducted at the University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran in mid-May 2018. Guar gum content, total phenol content and total flavonoid content were determined by the phenol-sulfuric acid, the Folin–Ciocalteu reagent, and colorimetric aluminum chloride methods, respectively. Seed cultivation was carried out in the greenhouse of Sistan and Baluchestan University in early June 2018. The treatments consisted of six different concentrations of ZnO-NPs including 0 (control), 25, 50, 100, 200, and 500 mg L-1 by foliar application of guar plants in two stages (20 and 27 days after sowing seeds). Based on the results, with increasing the concentration of nanoparticles, the number of seeds in pod gradually decreased, but no significant difference was observed in pod length and root length. However, stem length, stem dry weight, root dry weight, leaf area, stomata density, leaf dry weight, 500-seed weight, pod dry weight gradually increased, with the maximum increase observed in the 500 mg L-1 treatment compared to the control. In this treatment, seed gum, total phenol and total flavonoids increased by 2.55, 2.10 and 1.34 times compared to the control treatment, respectively. According to the results, ZnO-NPs nanoparticles with the properties used in this study can be used to improve the growth characteristics and increase the amount of seed gum, phenol and flavonoids of guava leaves and obtain the benefits of their medicinal applications.

Linum usitatissimum L. is one of the most important oilseed crops in the world and moreover, its oil is a valuable source of essential fatty acids composed of omega-3 such as alpha-linolenic acid. This plant is sensitive to fertilizer that is poured near the stem. Therefore, foliar application of nutrients is used as an efficient method with a major impact on the growth, quantity and quality of active ingredients in this product. This factorial experiment was performed based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in the Medicinal Plants Research Farm of Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch, during 2019 to assess  the effect of foliar application of different concentrations of boric acid, salicylic acid and urea at different hours of the day on increasing the quantity and quality of essential fatty acids. Treatments were applied at ten-day intervals in three periods after the beginning of flowering and the final harvest was performed to extract the oil with N-hexane solvent after capsule maturity. The percentage of fatty acid profile of flaxseed oil were determined using GC and GC-MS connected to mass spectrometer. Based on the results, the foliar application 50 mg/l salicylic acid on the percentage of alpha-linolenic acid and 3 liters of boric acid on linoleic acid after sunset, and 100 mg/l salicylic acid on eicosadienoic acid before sunrise and 5 g/l urea on palmitoleic acid after sunset were effective. Therefore, a combination of environmental effects on the plant before and during foliar application and plant physiology during and after uptake determines the effect of foliar application.

Chitosan is a chitin-derived glosamine polysaccharide used as a bioelicitor to improve the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. To investigate the effect of chitosan elicitor on the quantity and quality of essential oil of Hyssopus officinalis L. subsp. angustifolius Bieb. under different irrigation regimes, a factorial experiment was conducted in the Research Center for Medicinal Plants, I.A.U., Shahrekord in the crop year 2017-2018 in a RCBD with four replications. Experimental factors included different concentrations of chitosan at three levels of 0, 0.25 and 0.50 g/L and irrigation regimes including 4, 6, and 10-day intervals. The essential oil of the flowering branches of the plant was extracted by hydro-distillation using Clevinger apparatus and phytochemically analyzed by GC/MS. The main compounds of the hyssop essential oil were trans-pinocampone, cis-pinocampone, β-pinene, myrtenol, α-thujene, α-pinene, sabinene, delta-3-carcene and camphor. The results showed that the effect of different concentrations of chitosan and irrigation regimes on the yield of essential oil was significant (P <0.01). Different concentrations of chitosan had a significant effect (P <0.01) on the amount of some compounds essential such as trans-pinocampone, cis-pinocampone and myrtenol. In addition, different irrigation regimes had a significant effect on the amount of some compounds such as trans-pinocampone and cis-pinocampone (P <0.01) and sabinene, α-pinene and β-pinene (P <0.05). The results indicated that the maximum essential oil yield and pinocampone, as the most important consituent of hyssop  is obtained from chitosan  at 0.5 g/L and irrigation once every 10 days. It seems that chitosan foliar application and increasing the intervals of irrigation period can be effective in increasing the yield and quantitative and qualitative properties of hyssop essential oil.

Environmental stresses such as salinity have a great impact on the amount and quality of secondary metabolites of medicinal plants. To investigate the effect of salinity on phytochemical attributes of cannabis (Cannabis Sativa L.), an experiment in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications and 5 salinity treatments (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 dS/m) was conducted in 2019 in medicinal plants research center, Karaj, Iran. In this study, the amount of potassium (K) and sodium (Na) elements and chlorine (Cl) in leaf and root organs of the plant were measured by a flame photometer and colorimetric method, respectively. The content of cannabinoids compounds in leaves including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabichromene (CBC) were measured by GC/MS. The results showed that there was a significant difference (P≤0.01) among different salinity treatments in terms of Na, K, Cl and cannabinoids THC, CBD and CBC. With increasing salinity level, the amount of Na and Cl ions in leaves and roots increased compared to the control treatment and the highest amount of leaf and root Na (15.81, 14.06 mg/g, respectively) was observed in salinity treatment of 8 dS/m . Also, increasing the salinity concentration caused a decrease in leaf and root K of the plant and the highest amount of leaf and root K (34.83, 34.46 mg / g, respectively) was related to the control treatment. The highest amount of THC and CBD (7.94 and 1.45 mg / g of dried plant, respectively) at salinity concentration of 4 dS / m and the highest amount of CBC at salinity of 2 dS / m (0.012 mg / g dry leaf) were obtained. Therefore, salinity changes the amount of cannabinoids in cannabis and the highest levels of THC, CBD and CBC are obtained at low salinity levels.

Medicinal plants can be a good alternative to antibiotics by producing antimicrobial compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial effects of Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Phytolacca americana L. ethanolic leaf extract on several nosocomial pathogenic strains. Plant leaves were collected from the forests of Amol city in the spring of 2016. The extract was extracted by Soxhlet extractor method and then their antibacterial activity at concentrations of 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/ml on Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus sanguinis, and Staphylococcus aureus were studied by disk diffusion and well dilution methods. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were also determined. The highest inhibition zone diameter in the both disk diffusion and well dilution methods was found at concentrations of 200 mg/ml of each plant extract. In the disk diffusion method, R. pseudoacacia extract had highest inhibitory effect on P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris with a growth inhibition zone diameter of 24.67 mm, while P. Americana extract had the highest effect on S. aureus with 27.67 mm. In the well dilution method, R. pseudoacacia extract had the highest inhibition zone diameter on P. mirabilis (24.67 mm), whereas P. Americana showed highest inhibition zone diameter on S. aureus (24.3 mm). The MIC and MBC values of R. pseudoacacia extract was determined at 25 and 50 mg/ml concentrations for P. vulgaris, S. aureus and S. sanguis, and 50 and 100 mg/ml for P. mirabilis. The MIC and MBC values of P. Americana extract was 25 and 50 mg/ml for P. mirabilis, S. aureus and S. sanguis, and 50 and 100 mg/ml for P. vulgaris, respectively. Therefore, based on the results R. pseudoacacia and P. Americana ethanolic extracts had acceptable antimicrobial effect, especially at 200 mg/ml, against some important bacterial pathogens.