Water stress and exogenous carnitine on growth and essential oil profile of Eryngium foetidum L

• Published in: 3 Biotech Vol. 13; no. 10; p. 328
• Main Authors: dos Santos, Sabrina Kelly, da Silva Gomes, Daniel, de Oliveira, Ana Flávia Pellegrini, Silva, Agnne Mayara Oliveira, de Moura, Vitória Stefany, Gusmão, Moises Henrique Almeida, de Matos, Elyabe Monteiro, Viccini, Lyderson Facio, Grazul, Richard Michael, Henschel, Juliane Maciel, Batista, Diego Silva
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Amino acids; Bioinformatics; Biomaterials; Biotechnology; Cancer Research; Carnitine; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Drought; Eryngium foetidum; Essential oils; Hydroquinone; Lipid metabolism; Lipids; Metabolism; Metabolites; Oils & fats; Original; Original Article; Stem Cells; Water stress; Medicinal plants; Secondary metabolites profile; Drought stress; Re-watering; Sesquiterpenes; Culantro
• ISSN: 2190-572X; 2190-5738
• DOI: 10.1007/s13205-023-03757-y

Water stress influences plant growth and metabolism. Carnitine, an amino acid involved in lipid metabolism, has been related to responses of plants to abiotic stresses, also modulating their metabolites. Culantro ( Eryngium foetidum L.) is a perennial herb, rich in essential oils, native to Latin America, commonly used due to its culinary and medicinal properties. Here, we investigated the effect of exogenous carnitine on morphophysiology and the essential oil profile of culantro plants under water stress. For this, plants were grown under three water conditions: well-watered, drought stress, and re-watered; and sprayed with exogenous carnitine (100 µM) or water (control). Culantro growth was impaired by drought and enhanced by re-watering. Carnitine, in turn, did not reverse drought effects on growth, and impaired the growth of re-watered plants, also improving photosynthetic pigment content. Water conditions and carnitine application changed the essential oil profile of the plants. Drought and re-watering improved the production of eryngial, which was even increased with exogenous carnitine in re-watered plants. In addition, hydroquinone was only produced with the combination of re-watering and carnitine application. The application of exogenous carnitine can be a strategy to induce the production of essential oil compounds with cosmetic and pharmaceutical importance in culantro.