Changes in the content of bioactive pharmaceutical-industrial compounds of Euphorbia trigona Mill. treated with hormones

In this study, the effects of auxin and gibberellin on Euphorbia trigona plants, grown in a complete randomized blocks design under greenhouse conditions were investigated. One-minute pretreatments including auxin regulators NAA, IBA and IAA, (0, or 500 mg / l), followed by treatments containing IAA, IBA and NAA, 250 mg / l, and GA treatments,250 mg/l, without any pretreatments were utilized on 2 month cuttings. After 4 months, fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots, and shoot total terpenoid content were measured. In some samples, shoot extract was analyzed using GC-MS. Fresh and dry weight of shoot did not show any sensitivity to the treatments and pretreatments. NAA treatment had the most positive effect on root fresh and dry weight. The highest significant increase in terpenoid content was observed in NAA treatment and NAA and IBA pretreatments. GC-MS analysis showed that the type of chemical compounds in the extract were mainly including sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, fatty acids, esters and steroids with various medicinal and antimicrobial properties as well as industrial applications. Four compounds including bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate, hexadecanoic acid, 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-pentadecanone (Hexahydrofarnesyl acetone) and neophytadiene were observed in all treatments and controls with different percentages: Bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate in NAA treatment 49.31%, in control 9.59%; Hexadecanoic acid in NAA treatment 2.73%, in control 2.12%; 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-pentadecanone, in NAA treatment 3.16%, in control, 1.42%, Neophytadiene in control 0.94% and in gibberellin treatment 1.64%. This comparison prominently showed that hormone utilization could have a positive effect on terpenoids and fatty acids anabolic pathways in Euphorbia trigona.