Changes in essential oil content and composition of Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.) under foliar application of salicylic and orthophosphoric acids

Abstract

The essential oil (EO) content and composition of Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.) were studied under foliar application of salicylic acid (SA) and orthophosphoric acid (P). Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were employed to determine the chemical composition of EOs from the plant. Different concentrations of SA (0, 150, 300, and 450 ppm) and P (0, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2%) were applied to the plant at different stages of growth including vegetative, floral budding, and full flowering. Based on the results, SA, P and SA × P significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected the EO content and chemical composition of the plant. The EO contents (w/w %) ranged from 0.65% to 1%. The total of 29–37 components were identified in the EO samples. The major EO compounds under different SA, P, and SA × P treatments were camphene (0.6–6.2%), sabinene (0.4–6.1%), camphor (4.2–30.4%), trans-thujone (2.4–54%), trans-chrysanthenyl acetate (0.8–52.1%) and germacrene D (2.9–5.7%).

Keywords:

• Essential oil
• orthophosphoric acid
• salicylic acid
• thujone
• Tanacetum vulgare

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to extend their thanks and appreciation to Shiraz University, Research and Technology Council, and Natural Antimicrobial Center of Excellence (NACE) for their financial supports.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.