Abstract
Jasmonic acid (JA) exerts biological activity in plant responses to environmental stress as well as development. The effect of foliar application of JA and combination with deficit irrigation on some characteristics of two thyme species, including Thymus vulgaris and T. daenensis were investigated. Treatments comprised 0, 200, and 400 µL JA applied to plants under normal, slight drought, and mild drought stress conditions. Irrigation levels had a significant effect on growth traits in terms of herbage dry weight, plant height, number of branches, and leaf area index. Foliar application of JA influenced the essential oil yield and the main components of the oils. Percentages of carvacrol, γ-terpinene, and p-cymene in the oil extracted from the plants under stressed conditions were higher than non-stressed plants, whereas percentage of thymol was significantly reduced under drought stress. In both thyme species, the JA significantly improved carvacrol and thymol contents in the oils, antioxidant activity, plant height, and root length, but reduced the essential oil yield and amount of γ-terpinene in the oils. In conclusion, the foliar application of JA reduced the negative effects of water stress on thymol amount in T. daenensis, and γ-terpinene content in T. vuglaris.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Adams, R.P. 2007. Identification of essential oil components by gas chromatography/mass spectrometery. 4th ed. Allured Publishing Corp., Carol Stream, IL, USA.
Ali, M.B., K.W. Yu, E.J. Hahn, and K.Y. Paek. 2006. Methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid elicitation induces ginsenosides accumulation, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant in suspension culture Panax ginseng roots in bioreactors. Plant Cell Rep. 25:613–620.
Al-Ramamneh, E.A., 2009. Plant growth strategies of Thymus vulgaris L. in response to population density. Ind. Crop Prod. 30:389–394.
Amiri, H. 2011. Essential oils composition and antioxidant properties of three Thymus species. Evidence-Based Compl. Alt. Med. 2012: 1–8.
Ashrafi, M., A. Ghasemi Pirbalouti, M. Rahimmalek, and B. Hamedi. 2012. Effect of foliar application of jasmonic acid (JA) on essential oil yield and its compositions of Thymus daenensis Celak. J. Herbal Drugs 2:75–80.
Bahreininejad, B., J. Razmjoo, and M. Mirza. 2013. Influence of water stress on morpho-physiological and phytochemical traits in Thymus daenensis. Intl. J. Plant Prod. 7:155–166.
Bettaieb, I., N. Zakhama, W.A. Wannes, M.E. Kchouk, and B. Marzouk. 2009. Water deficit effects on Salvia officinalis fatty acids and essential oils composition. Sci. Hortic. 120:271–275.
Bohlmann, J., G. Meyer-Gauen, and R. Croteau. 1998. Plant terpenoid synthases: Molecular biology and phylogenetic analysis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 95:4126–4133.
Cao, S., Y. Zheng, K. Wang, P. Jin, and H. Rui. 2009. Methyl jasmonate reduces chilling injury and enhances antioxidant enzyme activity in postharvest loquat fruit. Food Chem. 115:1458–1463.
Cronquist, A. 1988. The New York Botanical Garden. p. 555. The evolution and classification of flowering plants. New York, USA.
Figueiredo, A.C., J.G. Barroso, L.G. Pedro, and J.J. Scheffer. 2008. Factors affecting secondary metabolite production in plants: Volatile components and essential oils. Flavour Fragrance J. 23:213–226.
Gershenzon, J. and R. Croteau. 1991. Terpenoids, p. 165–219. In: G.A. Rosenthal and M.R. Berenbaum (eds.). Herbivores: Their interactions with secondary plant metabolites, the chemical participants (second ed.). Academic Press, San Diego, USA.
Ghasemi Pirbalouti, A. 2009. Medicinal plants used in Chaharmahal and Bakhtyari districts of Iran. Herba Polon. 55:69–75.
Ghasemi Pirbalouti, A., A. Gorgij, M. Rahimmalek, and B. Hamedi. 2013a. Phytochemical response of hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.) to foliar application of jasmonic acid. J. Herbal Drugs 4:7–14.
Ghasemi Pirbalouti, A., M. Hashemi, and F. Taherian Ghahfarokhi. 2013b. Essential oil and chemical compositions of wild and cultivated Thymus daenensis Celak. and Thymus vulgaris L. Ind. Crop Prod. 48:43–48.
Ghasemi Pirbalouti, A., M.R. Samani, M. Hashemi, and H. Zeinali. 2014a. Salicylic acid affects growth, essential oil and chemical compositions of thyme (Thymus daenensis Celak.) under reduced irrigation. Plant Growth Regul. 72:289–301.
Ghasemi Pirbalouti, A., S.H. Neshat, E. Rahimi, B. Hamedi, and F. Malekpoor. 2014b. Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils of Iranian herbs against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from milk. Intl. J. Food Prop. 17:2063–2071.
Ghasemi Pirbalouti, A., S.E. Sajjadi, and K. Parang. 2014c. A review (research and patents) on jasmonic acid and its derivatives. Arch. Pharm. Med. Chem. 347:229–239.
Hung, D., B. Ou, and R.L. Prior. 2005. The chemistry behind antioxidant capacity assay. J. Agric. Food Chem. 53:1841–1856.
IRIMO (Islamic Republic of Iran Meteorological Organization). 2012. Climatology methods. http://www.irimo.ir.
Parra-Lobato, M.C., N. Fernandez-Garcia, E. Olmos, M.C. Alvarez-Tinaut, and M.C. Gómez-Jiménez. 2009. Methyl jasmonate-induced antioxidant defence in root apoplast from sunflower seedlings. Environ. Exp. Bot. 66:9–17.
Pauwels, L., D. Inzé, and A. Goossens. 2009. Jasmonate-inducible gene: what does it mean? Trends Plant Sci. 14:87–91
Koo, A.J.K. and G.A. Howe. 2009. The wound hormone jasmonate. Phytochemistry 70:1571–1580.
Letchamo, W., H.L. Xu, and A. Gosselin. 1995. Variations in photosynthesis and essential oil in thyme. J. Plant Physiol. 147:29–37.
Loreto, F., P. Ciccioli, A. Cecinato, E. Brancaleoni, M. Frattoni, C. Fabozzi, and D. Tricoli. 1996. Evidence of the photosynthetic origin of monoterpenes emitted by Quercus ilex L. leaves by 13C labeling. Plant Physiol. 110:1317–1322.
Mueller, M.J. 1997. Enzymes involved in jasmonic acid biosynthesis. Physiol. Plant. 100:653–663.
Naghdi-Badi, H., D. Yazdani, S. Mohammad Ali, and F. Nazari. 2004. Effects of spacing and harvesting time on herbage yield and quality/quantity of oil in thyme, Thymus vulgaris L. Ind. Crops Prod. 19:231–236.
Nickavar, B., F. Mojab, and R. Dolat-Abadi. 2005. Analysis of the essential oils of two Thymus species from Iran. Food Chem. 90: 609–611.
Rahimmalek, M., B. Bahreininejad, M. Khorrami, and B.E. Sayed Tabatabaei. 2009. Genetic variability and geographical differentiation in Thymus daenensis subsp. daenensis, an endangered aromatic and medicinal plant as revealed by inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Biochem. Genet. 47:831–842.
Rahimmalek, M., S. Azad, M. Yadegar, and A. Ghasemi Pirbalouti. 2012. Effect of jasmonic (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) on phytochemical properties of Salvia officinalis L. J. Herbal Drugs 3:89–94.
Rajasekaran, L.R. and T.J. Blake. 1999. New plant growth regulators protect photosynthesis and enhance growth under drought of jack pine seedlings. J. Plant Growth Regul. 18:175–181.
Simon, J.E., D. Reiss-Bubenheim, R.J. Joly, and D.J. Charles. 1992. Water stress-induced alterations in essential oil content and composition of sweet basil. J. Essent. Oil Res. 4:71–75.
Stahl-Biskup, E. and F. Saez. 2002. Thyme: The genus Thymus. CRC Press, New York.
Wasternack, C. 2007. Jasmonates: An update on biosynthesis, signal transduction and action in plant stress response, growth and development. Ann. Bot. 100:681–669
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alavi-Samani, S.M., Kachouei, M.A. & Pirbalouti, A.G. Growth, yield, chemical composition, and antioxidant activity of essential oils from two thyme species under foliar application of jasmonic acid and water deficit conditions. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 56, 411–420 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-015-0117-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-015-0117-y