Mitigating Salinity Stress and Enhancing Essential Oil Yield in Satureja mutica Using Nano-Selenium: Impacts on Growth, Photosynthesis, and Phytochemical Compositions

This study investigates the potential of nano-selenium (SeNP) to alleviate salinity stress and enhance growth, photosynthetic performance, and essential oil (EO) production in Satureja mutica. A factorial greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Kermanshah, Iran, in ۲۰۱۹. Treatments included four NaCl concentrations (۰, ۵۰, ۱۰۰, and ۱۵۰ mM) and two levels of SeNP application (۰ and ۵۰ mg L-۱). The results revealed that ۵۰ mg L-۱ SeNp significantly enhanced plant fresh weight (۵۱.۸%), total chlorophyll content (۱۰.۵۳%), carotenoid content (۶.۸۸%), Fv/Fm (۵.۴۸%), and chlorophyll index (۸.۹۳%), in response to NaCl. Additionally, SeNp application increased essential oil (EO) percentage (۴۰.۶۳%), EO yield per plant (۵۵.۵۵%), carvacrol content (۲۱.۴۳%), and ρ-cymene content (۴۰.۹۹%) under saline conditions. These findings suggest that applying ۵۰ mg L-۱ SeNp mitigates the hostile interventions of NaCl on the photosynthetic system, physiological status and growth of S. mutica. It is recommended to use ۵۰ mg L-۱ SeNp to alleviate salinity-induced stress and improve EO yield and carvacrol content, especially in low to moderately saline soils. This study highlights the potential of SeNp as an effective strategy to enhance the productivity and quality of S. mutica in saline environments.

کلیدواژه ها:

Carvacrol ، Essential oil ، Forest savory ، Nanoparticle ، Phytochemical ، Thymol