The Biochemical Properties of Zarrin-Giah (Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss) Medicinal Plant Affected by Seaweed Extract and Amino Acid Spraying

The use of medicinal plants, as favorite sources of different metabolites for human health, has become more popular, worldwide. It is accordingly important to find methods, which may enhance the growth and quality of medicinal plants including the important medical Zarringiah (Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss). The plant is used for the treatment of different diseases including cancer and Alzheimer. In the presented research, the effects of different biostimulants including seaweed extracts (Wuxal Ascofol, 1 (A1), 2 (A2), and 3 (A3) g/L) and algaton amino acid (1 (J1), 2 (J2), and 3 (J3) g/L) on the biochemical properties of Zarringiah were investigated in the greenhouse. Different plant biochemical properties including chlorophyll contents (a, b, and total), carotenoid, flavonoid, total phenol, antioxidant activity and leaf greenness were determined. The results indicated the positive effects of the experimental treatments on the quality of Zarringiah by improving the biochemical properties of the plant. The algal and the amino acid treatments significantly increased the chlorophyll a content of the plant, compared with the control treatment (0.34 mg/g). This was also the case for chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll. Although there was not much difference among the algal and amino acid treatments, on the content of carotenoid, treatments A1 (0.118 mg/g) and J1 (0.116 mg/g) resulted in the higher carotenoid content, significantly different from the other treatments including control (0.102 mg/g). The highest and significantly different flavonoid contents were resulted by the A2 (0.28%) and the J2 (0.276%) treatments. Interestingly, the least flavonoid content was related to the A3 (0.22%) treatment, even significantly less than the control treatment (0.236%) The J3 treatment (6076.336 mg/kg) resulted in the highest and significantly different content of total phenol. However, the least contents of the total phenol were related to the A3 (3510.556 mg/kg) and the control (3637.984 mg/kg) treatments. Algal treatments were more effective on the increased activity of the antioxidants. Accordingly, treatment A3 (77.167%) resulted in the highest and significantly different activity of antioxidant, followed by A2 (58.974%), and the least one was resulted by control (27.473%). The highest leaf greenness (SPAD) was related to the A2 treatment (39.933), significantly higher than the other treatments including J2 (31.733), J3 (27.033) and A1 (20.067). If the proper concentrations of biostimulants including seaweed extract and amino acid treatments tested in this research are used, it is possible to enhance the quality of Zarringiah, because at the higher rates, they may not favorably affect the plant quality.