Effects of growth conditions and cultivability on the content of cyclitols in Medicago sativa

Abstract

Cyclitols are secondary metabolites with bioactive properties, naturally occurring in plants. Accumulation of such metabolites is directly connected with abiotic stressing factors. This article investigates the influence exercised by a series of abiotic factors including plant treatment with elicitors and cultivability in various regions of Europe, in some cases during two seasons, onto the amounts of cyclitols produced in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). The obtained results highlighted that NaCl elicitation acts to increase the quantity of cyclitols, while AgNO3 and Zn(NO3)2 generally decreased the obtained amount of cyclitols. When considering the seasonal impact, samples harvested in August presented a double amount of cyclitols in comparison with those collected in May. Correlation analysis proved that this phenomenon is related mainly to sunshine period versus low humidity. However, our investigation suggests that soil type, salinity level, lack of humidity, the number of sunny days, and plant elicitation play a role on the amount of cyclitols produced in alfalfa plant.