Essential oil composition and effect of different treatments on seed dormancy breaking and germination of Salvia sahendica Boiss. & Buhse

Salvia sahendica Boiss. & Buhse.  with antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticonvulsant properties is an endemic species of the lamiaceae family that grows in the Sahand highlands in East Azerbaijan province. The aim of the present study was to investigate the quantity and quality of essential oils and effect of different treatments on the percentage and germination rate of this species due to the low germination percentage of its seeds. The aerial parts of the plant were collected at flowering stage in the summer of 2012 from Kasai habitat in Tabriz Then, its essential oil was obtained by clevenger method and analized by GC/MS. Seed test was conducted based on a completely randomized design (CRD) with 4 replications. Treatments included gibberllin at three levels of concentration (100, 150 and 200 ppm for 24 h), three levels of wash time (12, 24 and 72 h), chilling at three levels of duration (for 24, 48 and 72 h) and magnetic treatment (50 and 130 mT for 5, 10, 20, 25 and 30 min) and control. Based on the results, the essential oil yield of this species was 0.8% by weight and the presence of 23 compounds including trans-meta-mentha-2,8-diene, spathulenol, α-Pinene, 1,8-cineol and β-pinene in the essential oil components of this plant was proved. Seed test result showed that seeds treated with 100 ppm gibberellin had the highest germination rate (47 %) and seeds treated with 130 mT for 20 min had the highest germination rate (5.83) compared to control (16) and (1/99) respectively. The results indicate that the seeds of this species have physiological dormancy and different treatments can significantly increase.