Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The aim of this report was to study the e ect of salinity (control: 2dS/m, S1: 4 dS/m and S2:
6 dS/m) and harvest time (first harvest on 9 May 2018 and second harvest on 19 April 2018) on the
growth and the chemical composition of Centaurea raphanina subsp. mixta plants. The plants of the
first harvest were used for the plant growth measurements (fresh weight and moisture content of
leaves, rosette diameter, number and thickness of leaves), whereas those of the second harvest were
not used for these measurements due to the flowering initiation, which made the leaves unmarketable
due to their hard texture. The results of our study showed that C. raphanina subsp. mixta plants can
be cultivated under mild salinity (S1 treatment) conditions without severe e ects on plant growth
and yield, since a more severe loss (27.5%) was observed for the S2 treatment. In addition, harvest
time proved to be a cost-e ective cultivation practice that allows to regulate the quality of the final
product, either in edible form (first harvest) or for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical purposes as well
as antimicrobial agents in food products. Therefore, the combination of these two agronomic factors
showed interesting results in terms of the quality of the final product. In particular, high salinity (S2
treatment) improved the nutritional value by increasing the fat, proteins and carbohydrates contents
in the first harvest, as well as the tocopherols and sugars contents (S1 and S2 treatments, respectively)
in the second harvest. In addition, salinity and harvest time a ected the oxalic acid content which
was the lowest for the S2 treatment at the second harvest. Similarly, the richest fatty acid ( -linolenic
acid) increased with increasing salinity at the first harvest. Salinity and harvest time also a ected the
antimicrobial properties, especially against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Trichoderma viride,
where the extracts from the S1 and S2 treatments showed high e ectiveness. In contrast, the highest
amounts of flavanones (pinocembrin derivatives) were detected in the control treatment (second
harvest), which was also reflected to the highest antioxidant activity (TBARS) for the same treatment.
In conclusion, C. raphanina subsp. mixta plants seem to be tolerant to medium salinity stress (S1
treatment) since plant growth was not severely impaired, while salinity and harvesting time a ected
the nutritional value (fat, proteins, and carbohydrates) and the chemical composition (tocopherols,
sugars, oxalic acid, fatty acids), as well as the bioactive properties (cytotoxicity and antimicrobial
properties) of the final product.
Description
Keywords
Abiotic stress Antimicrobial properties Antioxidants Cytotoxicity Flavanones Oxalic acid Pinocembrin Polyphenols Saline conditions
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Petropoulos, Spyridon A.; Fernandes, Ângela; Dias, Maria Ines; Pereira, Carla; Calhelha, Ricardo C.; Chrysargyris, Antonios; Tzortzakis, Nikolaos; Ivanov, Marija; Sokovic, Marina D.; Barros, Lillian; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R. (2020). Chemical composition and plant growth of Centaurea raphanina subsp. mixta plants cultivated under saline conditions. Molecules. ISSN 1420-3049. 25):, p. 1-26