Effect of Soil Applied Iron Chelate Fertilizer on the Essential Oil Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Satureja hortensis under Greenhouse Conditions

Abstract

Savory (Satureja hortensis L.) from the Lamiaceae family is one of the most famous medicinal/spice-plant cultivated in most regions of the world. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effect of iron, Fe, (0, 8 and 16 mg Fe kg^-1 soil as iron-ethylenediamine di-ohydroxyphenylacetic acid (Fe-EDDHA)) application on the oil composition and antioxidant activity of the S. hortensis. Results showed that the maximum percentage of-terpinene,- terpinene and carvacrol were observed in control; whereas, the minimum percentage of the aforementioned constituents was obtained with application of 8 mg Fe kg^-1 soil. Results showed that inhibitory effects (IC50)of extract decreased, significantly in response to Fe application (IC50 of 408 and 324.7 mg L^-1 were obtained with application of 8 and 16 mg Fe kg-1 soil, respectively in comparison to IC50 of 720.4 mg L^-1 that obtained in control). In another word, antioxidantactivity was improved with Fe application as a significant (P < 0.05) linear regression with determination coefficient of 0.89. Findings indicated that savory-oils, in addition to other useful properties have a potential to use as a topical antioxidant.