Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jun 11;12(8):6022-6033.
doi: 10.1002/fsn3.4233. eCollection 2024 Aug.

Physiological and biochemical characteristics of milk thistle (Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn) as affected by some plant growth regulators

Sahar Fanai  1 , Davood Bakhshi  2 , Bohloul Abbaszadeh  3
Affiliations

Physiological and biochemical characteristics of milk thistle (Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn) as affected by some plant growth regulators

Sahar Fanai et al. Food Sci Nutr. .

Abstract

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn) is a globally and widely used medicinal plant that contains silymarin. This plant has antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, hepatoprotective, cardiovascular-protective, and neuroprotective effects. Plant quality, yield, and phytochemicals, especially silymarin content, change under various conditions like drought stress. Therefore, this research studied plant growth regulators (PGRs) like salicylic acid, spermidine, and brassinosteroid to increase plant tolerance to drought stress. Experimental treatments include different levels of irrigation (25%, 50%, 75%, and 90% field capacity), and foliar spraying including salicylic acid (75 and 150 mg/L), spermine (70 and 140 mg/L), and brassinosteroid (1 and 1.2 μM), separately, and water as a control and a secondary factor. The results revealed that the highest amount of leaf phenolic compounds was observed in the highest drought stress level (25%) and 75 mg/L salicylic acid application. Furthermore, brassinosteroid at different concentrations and salicylic acid (75 mg/L) increased leaf flavonoid content compared to other treatments. In 50% field capacity, foliar application of salicylic acid (150 mg/L) significantly increased seed yield by approximately 75% compared to control under the same stress level. Brassinosteroid application (1 μM) under 75% field capacity significantly increased the seed's taxifolin amount by 159%. Additionally, salicylic acid noticeably increased the silychristin concentration. The concentration of silydianin in the seed has also been increased under drought stress and foliar spraying with PGRs. Compared to the control, using spermidine below 75% field capacity caused an increase in its concentrations by over seven times. The highest silybin A amount was obtained in 50% field capacity and foliar150 mg/L salicylic acid. Taxifolin, silychristin, silydianin, silybinin B, iso-silybinin A, and iso-silybinin B compounds were identified in the seed extract. Generally, foliar spraying using plant growth regulators increased the number of silymarin compounds under drought stress conditions and field cultivation conditions.

Keywords: Brassinosteroid; Silymarin; drought; spermidine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Phenolic compounds in plants grown in natural habitats and plants grown under experimental treatments. (Br: brassinosteroid, SA: salicylic acid, Sp: Spermidine).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Leaf flavonoids in plants grown in natural habitats and plants grown under experimental treatments (Br: brassinosteroid, SA: salicylic acid, Sp: Spermidine).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Malondialdehyde in plants grown in natural habitat and the plants grown under experimental treatments (brassinosteroid, SA: salicylic acid, Sp: Spermidine).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The effect of different levels of drought stress and plant growth regulator on seed yield.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Chromatogram diagram of HPLC analysis of seed extract.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Alcazar, R. , Bueno, M. , & Tiburcio, A. F. (2020). Polyamines: Small amines with large effects on plant abiotic stress tolerance. Cells, 9, 2373. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al‐Samarrai, R. R. H. , Mustafa Abdul Sahib, M. , & Mustafa Abdulsahib, N. A. (2022). Identification and isolation of flavonoids from Iraqi Silybum marianum L. flowers by HPLC. International Journal of Health Sciences, 6(S2), 9432–9440. 10.53730/ijhs.v6nS2.7462 - DOI
    1. Andrzejewska, J. , Sadowska, K. , & Mielcarek, S. (2011). Effect of sowing date and rate on the yield and flavonolignan content of the fruits of milk thistle (Silybum marianum L. Gaertn.) grown on light soil in a moderate climate. Industrial Crops and Products, 33, 462–468.
    1. Arampatzis, D. A. , Karkanis, A. C. , & Tsiropoulos, N. G. (2019). Impact of plant density and Mepiquat chloride on growth, yield, and Silymarin content of Silybum marianum grown under Mediterranean semi‐arid conditions. Agronomy, 9, 669. 10.3390/agronomy9110669 - DOI
    1. Ashraf, M. , Akram, N. A. , Arteca, R. N. , & Foolad, M. R. (2010). The physiological, biochemical, and molecular roles of brassinosteroids and salicylic acid in plant processes and salt tolerance. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 29, 162–190.

LinkOut - more resources