article · BMC Plant Biology
Drought stress limits the growth and medicinal metabolite production of valuable plants such as Mentha pulegium, commonly known as pennyroyal. In vitro experiments assessed the use of silicon nanoparticles to mitigate water stress induced by polyethylene glycol. While increasing polyethylene glycol reduced shoot formation and overall plant performance, the addition of silicon nanoparticles at a concentration of 50 parts per million substantially improved growth metrics, including shoot height, shoot numbers, and biomass. Furthermore, this treatment elevated concentrations of key bioactive components, such as total phenols, rosmarinic acid, and antioxidant activity measured by DPPH scavenging. Gas chromatography analysis revealed increased proportions of essential compounds, including menthol, geraniol, and linalool, under the combined 50 parts per million silicon nanoparticle and drought conditions compared to controls.
Water scarcity increasingly threatens the cultivation of high-value medicinal and aromatic plants. Demonstrating that silicon nanoparticles can protect plant development and enhance the synthesis of desirable biochemicals during drought provides a potential strategy for sustaining the production of herbal products, essential oils, and pharmaceutical ingredients under challenging environmental conditions.
This work could inform agricultural formulations and in vitro cultivation protocols for producers of medicinal and aromatic plants, particularly businesses extracting menthol and related compounds. Because the findings are derived entirely from in vitro laboratory trials using polyethylene glycol to simulate drought, the technology represents early-stage research that requires testing under greenhouse and field conditions before commercial application.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
The development and production of secondary metabolites from priceless medicinal plants are restricted by drought stress. Mentha pulegium L. belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is a significant plant grown in the Mediterranean region for its medicinal and aesthetic properties. This study investigated the effects of three polyethylene glycol (PEG) (0, 5, and 10%) as a drought stress inducer and four silicon nanoparticle (SiNP) (0, 25, 50, and 100 ppm) concentrations as an elicitor to overcome the adverse effect of drought stress, on the growth parameters and bioactive chemical composition of M. pulegium L. plants grown in vitro. The experiment was performed as a factorial experiment using a completely randomized design (CRD) consisting of 12 treatments with two factors (3 PEG × 4 SiNPs concentrations), 6 replicates were used for each treatment for a total of 72 experimental units.The percentage of shoot formation was inversely proportional to the PEG concentration; for the highest PEG concentration, the lowest percentage of shoot formation (70.26%) was achieved at 10% PEG. SiNPs at 50 ppm enhanced shoot formation, the number of shoots, shoot height, fresh and dry weight, rosmarinic acid, total phenols, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity. The methanol extract from M. pulegium revealed the presence of significant secondary metabolites using gas chromatography‒mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The principal constituents of the extract were limonene (2.51, 2.99%), linalool (3.84, 4.64%), geraniol (6.49, 8.77%), menthol (59.73, 65.43%), pulegone (3.76, 2.76%) and hexadecanoic acid methyl ester or methyl palmitate (3.2, 4.71%) for the 0 ppm SiNPs, PEG 0% and 50 ppm SiNPs, and PEG 10%, respectively. Most of the chemical components identified by GC‒MS in the methanol extract were greater in the 50 ppm SiNP and 10% PEG treatment groups than in the control group. SiNP improves drought tolerance by regulating biosynthesis and accumulating some osmolytes and lessens the negative effects of polyethylene glycol-induced drought stress.Based on the results, the best treatment for most of the parameters was 50 ppm SiNPs combined with 10% PEG, the morphological and chemical characteristics were inversely proportional to the PEG concentration, as the highest PEG concentration (10%) had the lowest results. Most parameters decreased at the highest SiNP concentration (100 ppm), except for the DPPH scavenging percentage, as there was no significant difference between the 50 and 100 ppm SiNPs.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1186/s12870-024-05313-z
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
