THE IMPACT OF SALINE STRESS ON THE SECONDARY METABOLITE CONTENTS AND YIELD OF Agastache foeniculum (Pursh.) Kuntze

Abstract

Soil salinity is one of the consequences of climate change, affecting agricultural production in many areas of the world. Thus, it is necessary to find plant species that behave well under saline stress and, eventually, have a positive response in some saline stress conditions. The present study aims to evaluate the influence of different salt concentrations (NaCl, Na2SO4, and their mixtures) on the content of some secondary metabolites in Agastache foeniculum (Pursh.) Kuntze under controlled culture conditions. The determinations showed that the highest increase in phenol content and flavonoids were observed under the Na2SO4 highest concentration, the difference being significant compared to the control variant. Similar differences were obtained for the chlorophyll pigments. The antioxidant activity had the highest value for the intermediate Na2SO4 concentration. The yield fluctuated depending on the treatment variant but was smaller than the control (untreated), which recorded the highest value. The behaviour differed for the variants exposed to NaCl and the salt mixture. All the results indicate the possibility of using Agastache foeniculum (Pursh.) Kuntze as a valuable culture in the areas with Na2SO4 soil salinity.