title: Salt effects on Origanum majorana fatty acid and essential oil composition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The effects of salt on the essential oil yield and fatty acid composition of aerial parts of two marjoram varieties were investigated. Plants with 6 leaves were treated with NaCl (75mM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Salt treatment led to a reduction in aerial part growth. Salinity increased the fatty acid content more significantly in Tunisian variety (TV) than in Canadian variety (CV). CV showed an increase in double-bond index (DBI) and a decrease in malondialdehyde content under salt stress, while the opposite was observed in TV. The DBI was mainly affected by a strong reduction in oleic and linoleic acids in TV, whereas a strong stimulation of linoleic acid in CV was observed. Salt decreased and increased the essential oil yield in TV and CV respectively. The main constituents of the essential oil of TV were trans-hydrate sabinene and terpinen-4-ol, which showed a significant decrease under salt stress. In contrast, the main constituents of the essential oil of CV were sabinene and trans-hydrate sabinene, which showed a significant decrease and increase respectively under salt stress.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Marjoram oil is a rich source of many compounds such as essential oils and fatty acids, but the distribution of these compounds differed significantly between the two varieties studied.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Physiologie et Biochimie de la Tolérance au Sel des Plantes, Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, 1060 Tunis, Tunisia. olfa_zouhair@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Olfa
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Baâtour
authors.forename: Rym
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaddour
authors.forename: Hela
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mahmoudi
authors.forename: Imen
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tarchoun
authors.forename: Iness
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bettaieb
authors.forename: Nawel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nasri
authors.forename: Sabah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mrah
authors.forename: Ghaith
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hamdaoui
authors.forename: Mokhtar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lachaâl
authors.forename: Brahim
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marzouk
mesh_terms: D000081008:Bicyclic Monoterpenes; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005410:Flame Ionization; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry*; D019301:Oleic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D031341:Origanum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D035261:Plant Components, Aerial / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D054712:Salinity; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013729:Terpenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D000081008:Bicyclic Monoterpenes; D005227:Fatty Acids; D039821:Monoterpenes; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D012987:Soil; D013729:Terpenes; D019301:Oleic Acid; D008315:Malondialdehyde; C034019:terpinenol-4; C035127:sabinene; D019787:Linoleic Acid