Abstract
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.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Abiko Y, Okada M, Aoki H, Mizokawa M, Kumagai Y (2020) A strategy for repression of arsenic toxicity through nuclear factor E2 related factor 2 activation mediated by the (E)-2-alkenals in Coriandrum sativum L. leaf extract. Food Chem Toxicol 145:111706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2020.111706
Abramoff MD, Magelhaes PJ, Ram SJ (2004) Image processing with ImageJ. Biophotonics Int 11:36–42
Ami K, Planchais S, Cabassa C et al (2020) Different proline responses of two Algerian durum wheat cultivars to in vitro salt stress. Acta Physiol Plant 42:21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-3004-9
Barr HD, Weatherley PE (1962) A re-examination of the relative turgidity technique for estimating water deficit in leaves. Aust J Biol Sci 15:413–428. https://doi.org/10.1071/BI9620413
Bhavana GP, Chandrika R, Thara Saraswathi KJ (2013) Quantitative determination of secondary compounds in populations of Eryngium foetidum L. from India. Int J Curr Sci 10:1–5
Böttger A, Vothknecht U, Bolle C, Wolf A (2018) Plant secondary metabolites and their general function in plants. In: Böttger A, Vothknecht U, Bolle C, Wolf A (eds) Lessons on Caffeine, Cannabis & Co. Learning Materials in Biosciences. Springer, Cham, p 3:17
Bourdin B, Adenier H, Perrin Y (2007) Carnitine is associated with fatty acid metabolism in plants. Plant Physiol Biochem 45:926–931. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2007.09.009
Bridgemohan P, Bridgemohan RS, Mohammed M, Deitch M, Sarran H (2021) Comparative analysis of the odorants of cilantro (Coriandrum sativum L.) and culantro (Eryngium foetidum L.) as aromatic crop mimics of family: Apiaceae. J Hortic Postharvest Res 4:479–496. https://doi.org/10.22077/JHPR.2021.4260.1203
Cabrera-Alonso R, Guevara E, Ramírez-Elías MG, Moncada B, González FJ (2019) Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of hydroquinone assisted by gold nanorods. J Nanophotonics 13:036006. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.13.036006
Castro KM, Batista DS, Silva TD et al (2020) Water deficit modulates growth, morphology, and the essential oil profile in Lippia alba L. (Verbenaceae) grown in vitro. Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult 141:55–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-020-01766-w
Chandrika R, Saraswathi KJT, Mallavarapu GR (2015) Constituent of the essential oils of the leaf and root of Eryngium foetidum L. from two locations in India. J Essent Oil Bear Plants 18:349–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/0972060X.2014.960277
Charrier A, Rippa S, Yu A et al (2012) The effect of carnitine on Arabidopsis development and recovery in salt stress conditions. Planta 235:123–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-011-1499-4
Costa ASV, Hott MC, Horn AH (2020) Management of citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt ex Bor) for the production of essential oils. SN Applied Sci 2:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03949-8
Cruz CD (2016) Genes Software-extended and integrated with the R, MATLAB and Selegen. Acta Sci Agron 38:547–552. https://doi.org/10.4025/actasciagron.v38i3.32629
Darriet F, Andreani S, Cian MC, Costa J, Muselli A (2014) Chemical variability and antioxidant activity of Eryngium maritimum L. essential oils from Corsica and Sardinia Flavour. Fragr J activity of Eryngium maritimum L. essential oils from Corsica and Sardinia. Flavour Fragr J 29:3–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/ffj.3160
Dinneny JR (2019) Developmental responses to water and salinity in root systems. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol 35:239–257. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-cellbio-100617-062949
Elferjani HS, Ahmida NH, Ahmida A (2017) Determination of hydroquinone in some pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations by spectrophotometric method. Int J Sci Res Publ 6:2219–2224. https://doi.org/10.21275/ART20175678
Forbes WM, Gallimore WA, Mansingh A, Reese PB, Robinson RD (2014) Eryngial (trans-2-dodecenal), a bioactive compound from Eryngium foetidum: its identification, chemical isolation, characterization and comparison with ivermectin in vitro. Parasitology 141:269–278. https://doi.org/10.1017/s003118201300156x
Frank JA, Moroni M, Moshourab R et al (2015) Photoswitchable fatty acids enable optical control of TRPV1. Nat Commun 6:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8118
Gupta A, Rico-Medina A, Caño-Delgado AI (2020) The physiology of plant responses to drought. Science 368:266–269. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz7614
Henschel JM, Dantas EFO, Soares VA et al (2022) Salicylic acid mitigates the effects of mild drought stress on radish (Raphanus sativus) growth. Funct Plant Biol 49:822–831. https://doi.org/10.1071/FP22040
Henschel JM, Dantas EFO, Azevedo-Soares V et al (2023) Drought stress mitigation by foliar application of L-carnitine and its effect on radish morphophysiology. Physiol Mol Biol Plants. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-023-01308-6
Jaramillo BE, Duarte E, Martelo I (2011) Volatile chemical composition of the essential oil from Colombian Eryngium foetidum L. and determination of its antioxidant activity. Rev Cuba De Plantas Medicinales 16:140–150
Jeyanthi V, Velusamy P, Kumar GV, Kiruba K (2021) Effect of naturally isolated hydroquinone in disturbing the cell membrane integrity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 741 and Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 740. Heliyon. 7:e07021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07021
Karakaya S, Özdemir Ö, Koca M et al (2020) Cytotoxic effect and molecular docking studies of essential oils of Cymbocarpum erythraeum (DC.) Boiss. (Apiaceae) as potential inhibitors of cholinesterase. J Essent Oil Res 32:436–448. https://doi.org/10.1080/10412905.2020.1787884
Kulak M, Ozkan A, Bindak R (2019) A bibliometric analysis of the essential oil-bearing plants exposed to the water stress: how long way we have come and how much further? Sci Hortic 246:418–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2018.11.031
Lelandais-Brière C, Jovanovic M, Torres GAM et al (2007) Disruption of AtOCT1, an organic cation transporter gene, affects root development and carnitine-related responses in Arabidopsis. Plant J 51:154–164. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2007.03131.x
Liang G, Bu J, Zhang S et al (2019) Effects of drought stress on the photosynthetic physiological parameters of Populus× euramericana “Neva.” J for Res 30:409–416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0667-9
Lynch JP (2018) Rightsizing root phenotypes for drought resistance. J Exp Bot 69:3279–3792. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ery048
Ma C, He N, Zhao Y et al (2019) Antimicrobial mechanism of hydroquinone. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 189:1291–1303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-019-03067-1
Mabeku LBK, Bille BE, Nguepi E (2016) In vitro and in vivo anti-helicobacter activities of Eryngium foetidum (Apiaceae), Bidens pilosa (Asteraceae), and Galinsoga ciliata (Asteraceae) against Helicobacter pylori. BioMed Res Int. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/2171032
Martins AP, Salgueiro LR, Cunha AP et al (2003) Essential oil composition of Eryngium foetidum from S. Tome e Príncipe. J Essent Oil Res 15:93–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/10412905.2003.9712077
Nargesi M, Sedaghathoor SM, Hashemabadi DS (2022) Effect of arginine, glutamine, humic acid, and fulvic acid spraying on olive cultivars in saline conditions. Plant Physiol Rep 27:295–307. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40502-022-00661-0
Oney-Birol S (2019) Exogenous L-carnitine promotes plant growth and cell division by mitigating genotoxic damage of salt stress. Sci Rep 9:17229. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-53542-2
Paul JH, Seaforth CE, Tikasingh T (2010) Eryngium foetidum L., a review. Fitoterapia 82:302–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fitote.2010.11.010
Quynh CTT, Kubota K (2012) Aroma constituents and enzyme activities of Japanese long coriander leaves (culantro, Eryngium foetidum L.). Food Sci Technol 18:287–294. https://doi.org/10.3136/fstr.18.287
Ren T, Weraduwage SM, Sharkey TD (2019) Prospects for enhancing leaf photosynthetic capacity by manipulating mesophyll cell morphology. J Exp Bot 70:1153–1165. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ery448
Rodrigues TLM, Castro GLS, Viana RG et al (2020) Physiological performance and chemical compositions of the Eryngium foetidum L. (Apiaceae) essential oil cultivated with different fertilizer sources. Nat Prod Res 35:5544–5548. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2020.1795653
Rodrigues TLM, Silva ME, Gurgel ES et al (2022) Eryngium Foetidum L. (Apiaceae): a literature review of traditional uses, chemical composition, and pharmacological activities. Evid-Based Complementary Altern Med. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/2896895
Rojas-Silva P, Graziose R, Vesely B et al (2014) Leishmanicidal activity of a daucane sesquiterpene isolated from Eryngium foetidum. Pharm Biol 52:398–401. https://doi.org/10.3109/13880209.2013.837077
Rychlinska I, Nowak S (2012) Quantitative determination of arbutin and hydroquinone in different plant materials by HPLC. Not Bot Horti Agrobot 40:09–113. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha4027987
Sai SKPV, Sandya V, Manjari S, Ali S (2016) Enhancement of drought stress tolerance in crops by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Microbiol Res 184:13–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micres.2015.12.003
Santos RP, Cruz ACF, Iarema L, Kuki KN, Otoni WC (2008) Protocolo para extração de pigmentos foliares em porta-enxertos de videira micropropagados. Rev Ceres 55:356–364
Santos A, Melo Y, Oliveira L et al (2022a) Exogenous silicon and proline modulate osmoprotection and antioxidant activity in cowpea under drought stress. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 22:1692–1699. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-00764-5
Santos SK, Gomes DS, Santos LWO et al (2022b) Exogenous carnitine mitigates the deleterious effects of mild-water stress on arugula by modulating morphophysiological responses. J Plant Growth Regul. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-022-10868-y
Santos SK, Soares VA, Dantas EFO et al (2022c) Exogenous carnitine application enhances the growth of culantro (Eryngium foetidum) plants. Vegetos. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-022-00438-8
Shavandi MA, Haddadian Z, Ismail MHS (2012) Eryngium foetidum L., Coriandrum sativum and Persicaria ordorata L.: a review. J Asian Sci Res 2:410–426
Singh D (1981) The relative importance of characters affecting genetic divergence. Indian J Genet Plant Breed 41:237–245
Singh S, Singh DR, Banu S, Salim KM (2013) Determination of bioactives and antioxidant activity in Eryngium foetidum L.: a traditional culinary and medicinal herb. Proc Natl Acad Sci India Sect b Biol Sci 83:453–460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-012-0141-y
Singh BK, Ramakrishna Y, Ngachan SV (2014) Spiny coriander (Eryngium foetidum L.): a commonly used, neglected spicing-culinary herb of Mizoram, India. Genet Resour Crop Evol 61:1085–1090. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-014-0130-5
Soares VA, Dantas EFO, Santos SK et al (2022) Effect of salicylic acid on the growth and biomass partitioning in water-stressed radish plants. Vegetos. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-022-00358-7
Song L, Zhang YJ, Chen X et al (2015) Water relations and gas exchange of fan bryophytes and their adaptations to microhabitats in an Asian subtropical montane cloud forest. J Plant Res 128:573–584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-015-0721-z
Steiber A, Kerner J, Hoppel CL (2004) Carnitine: a nutritional, biosynthetic, and functional perspective. Mol Aspects Med 25:455–473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mam.2004.06.006
Sun C, Gao X, Chen X, Fu J, Zhang Y (2016) Metabolic and growth responses of maize to successive drought and re-watering cycles. Agric Water Manag 172:62–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.04.016
Sun X, Kolling DR, Smythers AL, Deal RA (2021) Investigations of the photochemical charge-transfer reduction of uranyl UO22+ (VI) to uranyl UO2+ (V) by benzene-1, 4-diol (1,4–C6H4(OH) 2) and oxalate (C2O42−) by UV–Vis, electron paramagnetic resonance, and luminescence spectroscopies. Inorganica Chim Acta 525:120451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2021.120451
Szabó K, Radácsi P, Rajhárt P, Ladányi M, Németh É (2017) Stress-induced changes of growth, yield and bioactive compounds in lemon balm cultivars. Plant Physiol Biochem 119:170–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2017.07.019
Takshak S, Agrawal SB (2019) Defense potential of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants under UV-B stress. J Photochem Photobiol B 193:51–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2019.02.002
Talaat IM, Khattab HI, Ahmed AM (2014) Changes in growth, hormones levels and essential oil content of Ammi visnaga L. plants treated with some bioregulators. Saudi J Biol Sci 21:355–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2013.10.008
Tardieu F, Parent B, Caldeira CF, Welcker C (2014) Genetic and physiological controls of growth under water deficit. Plant Physiol 164:1628–2163. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.113.233353
Thomas PS, Essien EE, Ntuk SJ, Choudhary MI (2017) Eryngium foetidum L. essential oils: chemical composition and antioxidant capacity. Medicines 164:1628–1635. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.113.233353
Toscano S, Scuderi D, Giuffrida F, Romano D (2014) Responses of Mediterranean ornamental shrubs to drought stress and recovery. Sci Hortic 178:145–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2014.08.014
Turk H, Erdal S, Dumlupinar R (2019a) Exogenous carnitine application augments transport of fatty acids into mitochondria and stimulates mitochondrial respiration in maize seedlings grown under normal and cold conditions. Cryobiology 91:97–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2019.10.003
Turk H, Erdal S, Dumlupinar R (2019b) Carnitine-induced physio-biochemical and molecular alterations in maize seedlings in response to cold stress. Arch Agron Soil Sci 66:925–941. https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2019.1647336
Wellburn AR (1994) The spectral determination of chlorophylls a and b, as well as total carotenoids, using various solvents with spectrophotometers of different resolution. J Plant Physiol 144:307–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0176-1617(11)81192-2
Wink M (2015) Modes of action of herbal medicines and plant secondary metabolites. Medicines 2:251–286. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicines2030251
Xu ZZ, Zhou GS (2006) Nitrogen metabolism and photosynthesis in Leymus chinensis in response to long-term soil drought. J Plant Growth Regul 25:252–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-006-0043-4
Zhu X, Zhang Q, Kong L, Wang F, Luo S (2010) New hydroquinone diglycoside acyl esters and sesquiterpene and apocarotenoid from Ecdysanthera rosea. Fitoterapia 81:906–909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fitote.2010.06.001
Acknowledgements
We thank A. M. Santos and S. M. Santos for kindly donating seeds for the experiments. We also acknowledge the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq—Brazil), Research Support Foundation of the State of Paraíba/Federal University of Paraíba (FAPESQ/UFPB), Minas Gerais State Research Foundation (FAPEMIG), and Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for the scholarships granted to students.
Funding
This study was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brasília, DF, Brazil: Grants no. PQ 304214/2022-1 to DSB and 301858/2023-3 to JMH], Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado da Paraíba/Universidade Federal da Paraíba (FAPESQ/UFPB), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior (CAPES), and the Public Call n. 03 Produtividade em Pesquisa PROPESQ/PRPG/UFPB [Grant Proposal code PVO13257-2020 to DSB].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
SKS, JMH, and DSB designed the study; SKS, DSG, AFPO, AMOS, VSM, MHAG, EMM, and RMG performed the experiments and the analyses; SKS, EMM, JMH, and DSB analyzed the data; SKS, EMM, LFV, RMG, JMH, and DSB wrote the article with input from all other authors. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Research involving human participants and/or animals
Not applicable.
Informed consent
Not applicable.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
dos Santos, S.K., da Silva Gomes, D., de Oliveira, A.F.P. et al. Water stress and exogenous carnitine on growth and essential oil profile of Eryngium foetidum L.. 3 Biotech 13, 328 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-023-03757-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-023-03757-y