Gene

Biology

Iridaceae

Corm

Phenols

Biochemistry

Botany

Peroxidase

Crocus sativus

Food science

Salicylic acid

Transcriptome

Enzyme assay

Crocus

Antioxidant

Enzyme

Flavonoid

Medicine

Chemistry

Flavonoid biosynthesis

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase

Gene expression

Traditional medicine

Scientia Horticulturae

Phenolic and flavonoid compounds have received specific attention for their applications in various industries. Salicylic acid (SA) plays an important role in the production of bioactive compounds in plants. Because of the significance of phenolic compounds as a potent antioxidant and their occurrence in saffron (Crocus sativus L.) organs, the present research was directed to assess the impacts of different concentrations of SA (0.01, 0.1 and 1 mM) on the phenolic and flavonoid contents in the leaves of saffron. The activity and gene expression of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) enzyme were additionally estimated. Besides, histochemical investigations were done in order to localize in situ phenolic and flavonoid compound aggregation areas in the leaves. For this purpose, the corms of saffron were pretreated for 12 h with various concentrations of SA and after that were planted under a greenhouse condition. According to the acquired results, SA fundamentally increased the total phenolic and flavonoid contents as well as the activity and gene expression of PAL enzyme in the leaves of SA-pretreated plants against non-SA-pretreated plants. Nevertheless, the impact of SA pretreatment varied relying on the applied concentration of SA. The results of histochemical investigation affirmed the results of biochemical investigations.

Induction of phenolic and flavonoid compounds in leaves of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) by salicylic acid