Oxidative Stress Effects and Antioxidant Defense of Azerbaijani and Iranian Pomegranate Varieties

Plant genetic resources are one of the most fundamental and essential of all resources on Earth as they may increase resilience and agricultural production in the face of climate global change.Iran and Azerbaijan are widely known for the rich agricultural biodiversity that is of vital importance to present-day agriculture globally. The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) originated in the region of modern-day Iran and has been cultivated since ancient times throughout Caucasian countries, northern India and the Mediterranean region. The interest in cultivatingand consuming pomegranate is increasedin the last years dueits adaptation to a wide range of climates and soil conditions, thehigh content of vitamins, minerals and the polyphenol antioxidants ofitsjuice, making this plantan important resource for human health. Pomegranate is considered to be a drought-resistant crop because it copes heat and can thrives well in arid and semiarid areas, even under desert conditions. Abiotic stresses such as drought lead to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species in plants which are highly reactive and toxic and cause damage to proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and DNA which ultimately results in oxidative stress. In this research, the effects of induced oxidative stress and the response of antioxidant defenses Azerbaijan and Iranian pomegranate landraces were evaluated. Oxidative stress was assessed as membrane lipid peroxidation, whereas the antioxidant response of the plants was measured evaluating changes in the activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT).