Impact of planting density and soaking seeds in melatonin solution on yield, secondary products content and antimicrobial activity of lovage plant

Amira K G Atteya; Aishah N Albalawi; Hala M Bayomy; El Moataz Bellah A El-Naggar; Mahmoud H Ghozlan; Esmail A E Genaidy

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.12.048

Impact of planting density and soaking seeds in melatonin solution on yield, secondary products content and antimicrobial activity of lovage plant

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022 Apr;29(4):2656-2673. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.12.048. Epub 2021 Dec 23.

Authors

Amira K G Atteya¹, Aishah N Albalawi², Hala M Bayomy^{3

4}, El Moataz Bellah A El-Naggar⁵, Mahmoud H Ghozlan⁶, Esmail A E Genaidy⁷

Affiliations

¹ Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, Damanhour 22516, Egypt.
² Department of Analytical Chemistry, Tabuk University, University College of Haql, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Tabuk University, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Food Science and Technology, Damanhour University, Damanhour 22516, Egypt.
⁵ Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Damanhour University, Damanhour 22516, Egypt.
⁶ Plant Pathology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, Damanhour 22516, Egypt.
⁷ Pomology Department, National Research Centre, Giza 12622, Egypt.

Abstract

Many studies worldwide have been done on the effect of medicinal uses of lovage plant but, very little works have been done on its production. In this study the effect of different planting density and soaking seeds in different concentration of melatonin solution as well as their combination treatments on yield, secondary products content and antimicrobial activity of lovage plant were studied. It was observed that using planting space of 15 cm gave the maximum mean values of total phenolic and antioxidant content and essential oil percentage. Using 30 cm planting space gave the maximum mean values of plant height, yield of herb fresh and dry weight per hectare, yield of roots dry weight and essential oil per hectare. While the plant space of 45 cm recorded the maximum mean values of fresh and dry weight of herb and roots fresh weight per plant and chlorophyll content. For melatonin levels, using 100 µM melatonin solution had the minimum mean values of number of days to emergence. While, soaking seeds in 75 µM melatonin solution recorded the best results of all studied parameters. Regarding the combination treatments, measurements comprising of herb fresh and dry weight as well as essential oil yield per hectare showed that the combination treatment of 30 cm between plants in row plus soaking seeds in 75 µM melatonin solution was able to achieve the maximum values of these parameters. While the combination treatment of 15 cm between plants in row plus soaking solution of 75 µM melatonin is recommended for getting the maximum yield of root fresh and dry weight per hectare and the maximum total phenolic and antioxidant contents per herb in both cuts of both studied season. The first major compound of lovage essential oil of herb is α-terpinyle acetate followed by β-Phellandrene. The percentages of these compounds were affected by the applied treatments. The volatile oil of lovage plant exhibits high antibacterial and antifungal properties in the concentrations range of 75-100 µg mL^-1.

Keywords: Antimicrobial activity; Essential oil analysis; Lovage; MBC, minimal bactericidal concentration; MFC, minimal fungicidal concentration; Melatonin; Planting density; Total phenolic and antioxidant content.