Assessment of Phytochemical, Morphological and Antioxidant Variation of Bilehar (Dorema aucheri) Populations Cultivated in Different Environmental Conditions

Background: Bilehar or Kandal koohi (Dorema aucheri) which belongs to umbeliferae family is an endemic species of Iran. In respect to the extinction risk of this valuable species, until now no study has been performed to evaluate the effect of climate features on different traits in D. aucheri populations in different geographical areas. Objectives: The goal of the study was to investigate phytochemical, morphological and antioxidant variation of Bilehar (Dorema aucheri) populations cultivated in different environmental conditions. Methods: The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design in three replicates in November 2014 in three different areas. The total phenolics and flavonoid content were determined colorimetrically. The antioxidant activity of extracts were measured using two model systems, DPPH free radical scavenging (DPPH) and reducing iron (FTC). The essential oil was extracted based on hydro- distillation. To investigate the effect of environmental factors on phytochemical characteristics, Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) was applied. Results: The results revealed the presense of significant differences between populations and various locations for the studied characteristics. Gorgue and Dishmook populations possessed the highest and the lowest amount of phenolics and essential oil in Margon and Isfahan provinces, respectively. Conclusion: Finally, Gorgue possessed the best performance among all populations in respect to the phytochemical and morphological traits in all provinces, so, further studies are suggested to be done for the domestication of this plant population