Effects of Soil Fertilization on Terpenoids and Other Carbon-Based Secondary Metabolites in Rosmarinus officinalis Plants: A Comparative Study

Abstract

<jats:p>Rosmarinus officinalis is an evergreen aromatic plant with important commercial interest as it contains numerous essential oils (composed of terpenoid compounds) and phenolic constituents (natural antioxidant compounds). This work aims at evaluating the concomitant effects of different inorganic and organic fertilization treatments and the subsequent increases in soil nutrient availability on terpenoids and other carbon-based secondary metabolites, e.g., flavonoids and phenolic compounds, in Rosmarinus officinalis leaves. The results showed that, as expected, the structural carbohydrate content (lignocellulosic compounds) in stems was higher in fertilized plants than in controls. Additionally, positive correlations were observed of the absolute amounts of total terpenoids and some single terpenoid compounds with N or P contents in leaves. On the contrary, the phenolic and flavonoid concentrations in all the rosemary plant parts were lower with the fertilization treatments. Indeed, negative correlations between the phenolic compounds (and flavonoids) and N in rosemary leaves were also found. Overall, the results suggest that the terpenoid production’s response to fertilization was due to N, which is essential for protein synthesis and terpene synthase activity, and to P, which is necessary for the synthesis of both terpenoid precursors and ATP and NADPH, also needed for terpenoid synthesis. On the other hand, the basis for the fertilization’s effects on the production of phenolic compounds is the direct nitrogen trade-off between growth and the shikimic acid pathway by which phenolics compounds are synthesized.</jats:p>

Tomato leaves under stress: A comparison of stress response to mild abiotic stress between a cultivated and a wild tomato species

“…Induction and parallel repression of specific secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathways were described before in Arabidopsis thaliana (Scheible et al, 2004). In addition, the contrary behaviour of flavonoid and terpenoid biosynthesis depending on nitrogen availability was shown before for Rosmarinus officinalis (Bustamante et al, 2020).…”

Tomato leaves under stress: a comparison of stress response to mild abiotic stress between a cultivated and a wild tomato species

“…In addition, the contrary behaviour of flavonoid and terpenoid biosynthesis depending on nitrogen availability was shown before for Rosmarinus officinalis (Bustamante et al. 2020 ).…”

The use of animal manure in the organic cultivation of Passiflora incarnata L. increases the content of phenolic compounds in the leaf and the antioxidant activity of the plant

“…Thus, the lack of variation in the flavonoid content in response to fertilization with cattle and poultry manures observed in this study can be partly explained by the lack of variation in Ca and P levels in the soil (Table 1) and in the Ca, P, and Mg levels in leaf tissue (Table 3). Besides, a high N availability is related to small contents of phenolic and flavonoid in some plants because of a competition between vegetative growth and phenolic synthesis via shikimic acid pathway (Bustamante et al 2020;Bénard et al 2011); this correlation was not found in P. incarnata (Reimberg 2006). This statement was reinforced in our study, where there was no variation in N content in leaves (Table 3) and no variation in flavonoid content (Table 5).…”

“…Growers also suggest that fertilization with animal manure every 50 or 60 days after planting, in the range of 3 to 5 L m −2 , promotes a higher plant mass, larger leaves, and taller plants. However, for some plants, high N leaf concentrations have a negative correlation with total phenolic and total flavonoid contents in leaves (Bustamante et al 2020;Bénard et al 2011). Therefore, it is necessary to study the adequate supply of NPK in medicinal plants to attend the requirements for growth and phenolic synthesis.…”