مجله تحقیقات گیاهان دارویی و معطر ایران
سال سی و نهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 116، تابستان 1402)

Due to the similarity in appearance and properties of some medicinal plants, it is necessary to identify them more precisely by various methods. Accordingly, in the present study, Satureja rechingeri Jamzad and S. khuzistanica Jamzad were investigated and compared based on morphological, phytochemical, and molecular characteristics. S. rechingeri and S. khuzistanica seeds were collected from Ilam and Lorestan provinces, respectively, and after scientific identification, they were planted in the research greenhouse of the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands. The seedlings were then transferred to the experimental farm of the mentioned institute based on a t-test (n=3). Several important morphological traits including inflorescence length, inflorescence stem internode length, length and calyx diameter, calyx three-large and two-short teeth length, length and corolla diameter, stamen length, stigma length, length and vegetative organ leaf width, length and leaflet width, stem diameter, plant height, number of main and sub-branches, largest and smallest canopy diameter, and length and reproductive organ leaf width were measured at full flowering stage in the third year of planting. The essential oils (EOs) were extracted from the plants floral branches in the third year of planting through water distillation. The EOs yield was calculated and their compounds were identified using ultra-fast gas chromatography (GC-FID). DNA barcoding and ITS marker were used for molecular studies on these two savory species. The results showed that these two species did not differ significantly (P<0.01) for all the morphological traits examined. 13 common compounds were identified in these two species EO. S. rechingeri and S. khuzistanica EOs contained 88.6% and 89.5% carvacrol, respectively. The EO yeild was obtained 3.3% for S. rechingeri and 3.04% for S. khuzistanica. These two species showed 100% nucleotide similarity with each other and were closely related to S. bachtiarica (98%). On this basis, it is probable that these two species are not only independent species, but can also be different accessions of the same species.

Nepeta crassifolia Boiss. & Buhse, from Lamiaceae family, is an aromatic species with medicinal properties which is endemic to Iran. The seeds and aerial parts of this plant were collected from six different regions of East Azerbaijan province. After drying, the plant aerial parts essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and their compounds were identified by GC and GC/MS. The collected seeds, after producing greenhouse seedlings, were planted in the field in a randomized complete block design with three replications. In the second year after planting, the flowering shoots were harvested, dried, and distilled. The results showed that there was significant differences among essential oil percentage of natural habitat samples which the highest amount belonged to "Marand" region, but the farm essential oil samples did not differ with each other significantly. The compounds nepetalactone I (4aα, 7α, 7aα) and II (4aα, 7α, 7aβ), globulol, germacrene B, caryophyllene oxide, and 1,8-cineole were identified as the main essential oil compounds of this species. The highest amount of nepetalactone I or II under the natural habitat (69% and 21.7%, respectively) and field (27.3% and 51.5%, respectively) conditions belonged to "Misho" region in "Marand". "Sarab" region also had the highest amount of nepetalactone II under the natural habitat and farm conditions compared to the other samples. The highest amount of 1,8-cineole (21.8%) in the oil was also obtained from the natural habitat of "Kharil" region.

Aphis gossypii Glover. is one of the most important pests of Cucurbitaceae family. Nowadays, control of the pest population using the environmentally compatible compounds has been increased. In this study, fumigant toxicity of different concentrations and time intervals of Achillea millefolium L. and Mentha pulegium L. essential oils (EO) was studied in a completely randomized design on adults of mentioned pest. Also, sublethal effects of EOs were evaluated on life table parameters of adult aphids. The results showed that these plants EOs caused significant mortality of adult insects. LC50 of A. millefolium and M. pulegium EOs on A. gossypii were 34.90 and 23.34 µl.l-1 of air, respectively. LT50 of EOs were obtained 12.30 h in 34.90 µl.l-1 of air concentration of A. millefolium EO and 12.02 h in 23.34 µl.l-1 of air concentration of M. pulegium EO. Intrinsic rate of population increase (rm) as the most important life table parameter of the pest was obtained 0.28 (female/female/day: the number of female individuals produced per female each day) in the M. pulegium EO treatment and 0.27 (female/female/day) in the A. millefolium EO one, which had a significant decrease compared to control (0.34). The study results of sublethal effects of these two essential oils on population growth parameters indicated that age-specific survival rate of the aphid was lower in the treatments compared to control. Life expectancy (ex) was the lowest in the M. pulegium treatment (10.97 days) and highest in control (20.73 days). Net reproductive rate was calculated 15.64, 9.38, and 35.76 (female/female/generation) for A. millefolium, M. pulegium, and control, respectively. Our results revealed that the plant EOs studied could be suggested to be used in the integrated A. gossypii management programs in greenhouses due to the high potential in fumigant toxicity and population decrease of this pest.

Plantago major L. is a herbaceous perennial plant with many biological effects such as strong antioxidant properties. This study aimed at investigating the inhibitory effect of P. major seeds extract on amyloid nanofibrils production and also to antioxidant properties of this extract. First, the plant powdered-seeds hydroalcoholic extract was prepared using 96% ethanol. The extract compounds were then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method. The production of amyloid fibrils was confirmed using the concord spectrometry method and transmission electron microscope imaging and its antioxidant effects were evaluated by the DPPH method. The presence of pyrrolidinone (2.95%) and N-(4-aminobutyl) acetamide (17.98%) in the extract was confirmed by GC/MS. The highest antioxidant activity (99.18%) and lowest amyloid nanofibrils production (55.73%) were obtained in the concentrations of 2 and 0.4 mg.ml-1 of the extract, respectively. The presence of amyloid fibrils was confirmed by electron microscopic imaging. The results of this research showed that the P. major seeds extract can be introduced as a suitable candidate to reduce the complications caused by Alzheimer's disease.

Nowadays, the invention and application of agricultural pest control non-chemical methods is one of the important and practical ones in pest management programs in most societies of the world. Meanwhile, a large number of studies have been focused on bio-based pesticides. In this regard, new formulations of plant insecticides have been developed as a suitable alternative to artificial pesticides. In this research, respiratory and contact toxicity of pure and formulated Eucalyptus globulus Labill. essential oil and respiratory toxicity durability of its essential oil nanocapsules on adult insects of Tribolium confusum Herbest. (Col., Tenebrionidae) were investigated under laboratory conditions. According to the results, for respiratory toxicity, the pure and formulated essential oil LC50 at 24 h was obtained 46.39 and 1472 μl.l-1 of air, respectively. The formulated essential oil LT50 in three concentrations of LC25, LC50, and LC90 was determined 12.3, 10.39, and 0.36 days, respectively. The results also showed that the contact toxicity of formulated essential oil (LC50= 19030 μl.l-1) on this insect was much higher than the contact toxicity of pure one (LC50= 3770 μl.l-1). Therefore, due to the good stability of the formulated essential oil in respiratory toxicity and the excellent effect in contact toxicity, after additional tests, eucalyptus essential oil nanocapsules could be used in the management of this important pest.

Gastric cancer is a malignant tumor that is one of the most common types of cancer in the world and Iran. Plants are rich sources of a variety of antioxidant compounds which can be used to produce anti-cancer drugs. In this study, the antioxidant properties and cytotoxicity of Ephedra major Host. extract, collected from "Parandak" in Robat Karim city, Tehran province, were investigated on AGS gastric cancer cells. Ethanol and methanol hydroalcoholic extracts (80%) of plant vegetative shoots were extracted by soaking method. Phenolic content of the extracts was measured by Folin-Ciocalteu agent and their antioxidant activity was assessed using DPPH test. Also, the cytotoxicity degree of different concentrations of this plant extract on the AGS gastric cancer cells was evaluated at three times of 24, 48, and 72 hours using MTT method. BCL2 gene expression change was measured using Real time-PCR. The results showed that the antioxidant properties and phenolic content of ethanol extract were higher than methanol one. The results of MTT test showed that with increasing concentration of ethanol extract, cell viability decreased and after 48 hours, IC50 was obtained 250 µg.ml-1 of extract. The BCL2 gene expression decreased in the extract treatment, although this decrease was not significant. Overall, the ethanol extract of the aerial shoots of this plant could inhibit the growth of gastric cancer cells, but did not have a significant effect on reducing the expression of BCL2 anti-apoptotic gene.

To investigate the effects of drought stress, salicylic acid, and polyamines on plant growth yield and oil and seeds essential oil content in Nigella sativa L., a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in the research greenhouse of Shirvan Azad University in 2020-21 cropping year. The experimental treatments included drought stress at four levels (25, 50, 75, and 100% of field capacity) as the first factor and foliar application of salicylic acid, putrescine, and spermidine each at two levels (0.5 and 1 mM) as the second factor. The results showed that the highest number of fertile capsules per plant (12.66), number of seeds per capsule (96.24), and harvest index (58.69%) were obtained in the 100% of field capacity treatment. Also, the highest seed yield per pot was obtained in the 100% of field capacity treatment (16.05 g) and 1 mM salicylic acid (11.46 g). On the other hand, the highest plant height (62.5 cm), dry weight of single plant (6.44 g), biomass in pot (32.2 g), oil content (31.21%), and oil yield (5.71 g.pot-1) were obtained in the treatment of 100% of field capacity + 1 mM salicylic acid and also, the highest essential oil content (0.09%) was obtained in the treatment of 25% of field capacity + 1 mM salicylic acid. Overall, the results showed that full irrigation (100% of field capacity) + 1 mM salicylic acid foliar application was the best treatment for N. sativa under greenhouse conditions. In general, the plant growth characteristics decreased with increasing stress severity, but the negative effects of drought stress were moderated with increasing the salicylic acid foliar application.

Water stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses limiting growth and plant yield under dryland conditions, which affects the morphological and physiological characteristics of plants. To evaluate morphological characteristics, yield, mucilage, and seed oil of Lallemantia iberica (M.B.) Fisch. & C.A. Mey. ecotypes [Kerman (Kerman province), Naein (Isfahan province), Sanandaj (Kurdistan province), Mashhad (Razavi-Khorasan province), and Malekan (East-Azerbaijan province)] under dryland conditions, an experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with three replications in the medicinal plants research farm of Yasouj Agricultural Research Center and Natural Resources in the 2016-2017 crop year. The results showed that ecotype significantly affected morphological traits, seed yield, mucilage yield, and oil yield. The highest seed yield was obtained from Kurdistan (529 kg ha-1) and Mashhad (515 kg ha-1) ecotypes. The highest and lowest oil yield was related to Kurdistan (211 kg ha-1) and Kerman (189 kg ha-1) ecotypes, respectively. Mashhad (22.7 kg ha-1) and Malekan (18.2 kg ha-1) ecotypes had the highest and lowest seed mucilage yield, respectively. Although there was no significant difference between the oil and seed mucilage percentage of the ecotypes, the highest (41.3%) and lowest (39.9%) oil content was found in Kerman and Kurdistan ecotypes and the highest (4.4%) and lowest (3.7%) mucilage percentage belonged to Mashhad and Kurdistan ones, respectively. Overall, the results showed that Kurdistan and Mashhad ecotypes are suitable for cultivation under dryland conditions of Yasouj due to higher yield of seeds, mucilage, and seed oil.

Glycyrrhiza glabra L. is one of the valuable medicinal plants of the world, whose glycyrrhizin, the most important triterpenoid metabolite in its roots, is widely used in food and modern pharmaceutical industries. To overcome the seed germination problems, the risk of plant extinction due to the indiscriminate root harvesting, and the slow rate of natural biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, it is necessary to study on this plant root tissue culture and use elicitors to increase its glycyrrhizin biosynthesis. In the present study, the seed germination rate of two Iranian licorice ecotypes (Kashmar and Joghtai) and an Iraqi ecotype was investigated at different levels of sulfuric acid pretreatment. In addition, differences between the ecotypes in terms of morphology and root glycyrrhizin content were studied in response to IAA and NAA auxin elicitors with concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mg.l-1 in ½ MS medium using root explants. The results showed that all three ecotypes obtained the highest seed germination in the 98% sulfuric acid pretreatment for 40 minutes. The Iraqi ecotype was placed in the statistically best group in terms of all traits except glycyrrhizin content under control and some hormone levels (esp. NAA) conditions. In the Iranian ecotypes, the auxin elicitors application significantly improved the root traits and glycyrrhizin content. Kashmar ecotype produced the thickest roots using 0.5 mg.l-1 of IAA and the highest root dry weight (5.8 and 5.4 mg, respectively) using the medium and high concentrations of NAA and IAA. Joghtai ecotype also produced the heavy roots with 1.5 and 0.5 mg.l-1 of IAA and NAA (100 and 79 mg, respectively). In general, the medium and high concentrations of IAA and NAA (1 and 1.5 mg.l-1) caused the highest glycyrrhizin production (8.82 and 7.83 µg.g-1 DW, respectively) in Kashmar ecotype roots. Therefore, selection of appropriate ecotype and auxin elicitors application can increase in vitro production of biomass and root glycyrrhizin content in G. glabra.

Nigella sativa L. is a valuable medicinal plant that is widely used in different industries. Accumulation of compatible osmolytes is one of the common responses of plants under drought stress. To investigate the effects of irrigation regimes and biochar (resulting from the heating of cattle manure) on N. sativa, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in the greenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Kurdistan in 2018. The experimental factors consisted of three drought stress levels (40, 70, and 100% of FC) and two biochar use levels (0 and 15 tons.ha-1). The ANOVA results showed that the interaction effects of drought stress and biochar were significant on hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, proline, soluble carbohydrates (water and ethanol soluble), and osmotic potential. Increasing the intensity of drought stress enhanced the amount of hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, proline, and soluble carbohydrates (water and ethanol soluble) and caused the osmotic potential to become more negative. Biochar application decreased the negative effects of drought stress so that hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, proline, and soluble carbohydrates (water and ethanol soluble) amounts were lower than the treatments without biochar. Overall, the present research results proved the useful and effective role of biochar in improving the physiological traits and protective osmolytes of N. sativa under drought stress.

Chelidonium majus L. has a special place among medicinal plants with its alkaloid and extensive pharmacological properties. To investigate the effects of irrigation interval and ammonium nitrate on some of this medicinal plant properties, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in the research greenhouse of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, the University of Guilan, in 2017. The experimental factors included irrigation interval at three levels of 4 (I1), 8 (I2), and 12 (I3) days and ammonium nitrate at five levels of 0 (N0), 45 (N1), 60 (N2), 75 (N3), and 95 (N4) kg.ha-1. The ANOVA results showed that the interaction of irrigation interval and nitrogen fertilizer was significant on root fresh weight, fresh and aerial parts dry weight, total dry weight, and root volume at 5% probability level and root dry weight, total fresh weight, and alkaloid content of roots or aerial parts at 1% probability level. The highest root fresh weight (68.92 g.plant-1) was obtained in the I2N0 treatment. Also, the highest aerial parts fresh weight (33.54 g.plant-1) and total plant fresh weight (92.92 g.plant-1) were observed in the I2N4 treatment. The highest root (1.72 mg.g-1 DW) and aerial parts (1.23 mg.g-1 DW) alkaloid content was obtained in the I3N1 and I2N0 treatments, respectively. Overall, the 8-day irrigation interval with increasing the fertilizer amount and 12-day irrigation interval with less fertilizer amount (0-60 kg.ha-1) treatments could be recommended in the production of Ch. majus under greenhouse cultivation, respectively in terms of yield and different parts alkaloid content.