Essential oil compositions of summer savory under foliar application of jasmonic acid and salicylic acid

Jasmonic acid (JA) and its volatile methyl ester (MJ) are regarded as endogenous regulators that play important roles in regulating stress responses, plant growth and development. Salicylic acid (SA) has been identified as an important signaling element involved in establishing the local and systemic disease resistance response of plants after pathogen attack. Growth, oil yield and chemical components of Satureja hortensis L. grown in greenhouse conditions were investigated. Experimental treatments, included (i) water foliar application, (ii) water + ethanol foliar application, (iii-v) 50, 100, and 200 L JA and (vi-ix) 50, 100, and 200 M SA. The hydro-distilled oil yields of studied treatments ranged between 0.74 and 0.91 mL/100 g dry matter. The major components of the oil were carvacrol, gamma-terpinene, (Z)-beta-ocimene, alpha-pinene, and alpha-terpinene. The result indicated that different levels of JA and SA had significant impacts on chemical components of S. hortensis oils, whereas they had no significant effects on oil yield and dry herbage. Foliar application of 50 mu L SA increased monoterpene hydrocarbons in S. hortensis oil, whereas oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes decreased. Finally, some of secondary metabolites in S. hortensis could be partially changed by supplementation of different elicitors.