Effects of salicylic acid and complex chitin on the growth and nutritional quality of spearmint

doi:10.11686/cyxb2025426

Abstract

Abstract:

In this study， we investigated the effects of salicylic acid and complex chitin as single and combined treatments on the growth and nutritional quality of spearmint （Mentha spicata）. The experiment consisted of a control and four treatments： Ethanol， 300 mg·L^-1 salicylic acid， 0.4% w/v complex chitin， and the combined treatment （300 mg·L^-1 salicylic acid + 0.4% complex chitin）. At 60 days after treatment， plant growth， photosynthetic characteristics， and nutritional quality indexes were determined. The results show that， compared with the control plants， the plants treated with salicylic acid and complex chitin showed significantly increased growth and nutritional quality. The combined treatment had the most significant effect， resulting in significantly increased biomass， root system indexes， and photosynthetic parameters； increased absorption efficiency of nitrogen， phosphorus， and potassium； and increased contents of basic nutritional components （total sugars， crude protein， crude fat， and crude fiber） and antioxidant substances （total phenols， total flavonoids， and ascorbic acid）. Specifically， the contents of total sugars， crude protein， crude fat， and crude fiber were 56.78%， 26.77%， 26.58%， and 38.24% higher， respectively， in the combined treatment compared with the control. A membership function analysis of multiple traits ranked the treatments， from highest nutritional quality of spearmint plants to lowest， as follows： combined treatment > complex chitin treatment > salicylic acid treatment > control > ethanol treatment. The results of this study provide a reference for synergistically improving the nutritional quality of spearmint using salicylic acid and complex chitin.

Key words: spearmint, salicylic acid, complex chitin, combined treatment, nutritional quality

Xin-ying LIU, Jing-jing JIAN, Wan-lu ZHAO, Can CUI, Fan YANG, Jun-xin YAN, Mu HE. Effects of salicylic acid and complex chitin on the growth and nutritional quality of spearmint[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2026, 35(10): 180-191.

Figures/Tables 9

References 57

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处理 Treatment	叶鲜重 Leaf fresh weight	叶干重 Leaf dry weight	茎鲜重 Stem fresh weight	茎干重 Stem dry weight	根鲜重 Root fresh weight	根干重 Root dry weight
对照Control	11.29±1.85b	1.87±0.34c	8.49±1.09c	2.17±0.32b	4.72±0.37d	1.56±0.18d
ETH	10.60±1.69b	1.73±0.31c	8.53±1.60c	2.15±0.42b	4.43±0.35d	1.43±0.17d
SA	15.40±0.71a	3.18±0.22b	13.96±1.02ab	3.36±0.29a	6.50±0.63c	2.05±0.22c
CC	15.60±1.77a	3.13±0.38b	12.31±0.57b	3.05±0.19a	7.54±0.45b	2.36±0.09b
SACC	17.69±2.00a	3.85±0.43a	14.18±0.79a	3.54±0.16a	10.17±0.78a	3.04±0.16a

处理 Treatment	叶鲜重 Leaf fresh weight	叶干重 Leaf dry weight	茎鲜重 Stem fresh weight	茎干重 Stem dry weight	根鲜重 Root fresh weight	根干重 Root dry weight
对照Control	11.29±1.85b	1.87±0.34c	8.49±1.09c	2.17±0.32b	4.72±0.37d	1.56±0.18d
ETH	10.60±1.69b	1.73±0.31c	8.53±1.60c	2.15±0.42b	4.43±0.35d	1.43±0.17d
SA	15.40±0.71a	3.18±0.22b	13.96±1.02ab	3.36±0.29a	6.50±0.63c	2.05±0.22c
CC	15.60±1.77a	3.13±0.38b	12.31±0.57b	3.05±0.19a	7.54±0.45b	2.36±0.09b
SACC	17.69±2.00a	3.85±0.43a	14.18±0.79a	3.54±0.16a	10.17±0.78a	3.04±0.16a

处理 Treatment	根系总长 Total length of root system （cm）	根系总面积 Total area of root system （cm2）	根系总体积 Total volume of root system （cm3）	根系分叉数 Number of root forks	根系平均直径 Roots average diameter （mm）	株高 Plant height （cm）
对照Control	327.17±11.32d	90.50±3.62d	6.00±0.30c	161.17±14.50c	0.43±0.03d	44.23±3.96c
ETH	308.17±10.50d	83.17±3.19e	5.35±0.39d	211.50±22.72b	0.51±0.05c	46.90±3.22c
SA	466.33±18.14c	111.34±4.72c	7.52±0.37b	258.00±12.76a	0.60±0.05b	53.70±0.84ab
CC	512.33±22.22b	122.00±3.85b	8.03±0.31b	248.67±18.89a	0.66±0.02b	49.47±5.08bc
SACC	568.50±15.63a	143.83±4.67a	8.75±0.33a	279.83±21.50a	0.73±0.02a	56.13±4.98a

处理 Treatment	根系总长 Total length of root system （cm）	根系总面积 Total area of root system （cm2）	根系总体积 Total volume of root system （cm3）	根系分叉数 Number of root forks	根系平均直径 Roots average diameter （mm）	株高 Plant height （cm）
对照Control	327.17±11.32d	90.50±3.62d	6.00±0.30c	161.17±14.50c	0.43±0.03d	44.23±3.96c
ETH	308.17±10.50d	83.17±3.19e	5.35±0.39d	211.50±22.72b	0.51±0.05c	46.90±3.22c
SA	466.33±18.14c	111.34±4.72c	7.52±0.37b	258.00±12.76a	0.60±0.05b	53.70±0.84ab
CC	512.33±22.22b	122.00±3.85b	8.03±0.31b	248.67±18.89a	0.66±0.02b	49.47±5.08bc
SACC	568.50±15.63a	143.83±4.67a	8.75±0.33a	279.83±21.50a	0.73±0.02a	56.13±4.98a

处理 Treatment	净光合速率 Net photosynthetic rate （μmol·m^-2·s^-1）	胞间二氧化碳浓度 Intercellular carbon dioxide concentration （μmol·mol^-1）	气孔导度 Stomatal conductance （mol·m^-2·s^-1）	蒸腾速率 Transpiration rate （mmol·m^-2·s^-1）
对照Control	10.03±1.72c	276.00±10.68ab	0.32±0.04b	2.83±0.07d
ETH	10.79±1.33bc	274.67±8.40ab	0.33±0.02b	2.99±0.18cd
SA	12.80±1.55ab	289.33±5.01a	0.28±0.02b	3.12±0.23bc
CC	11.61±1.50bc	262.83±8.13b	0.39±0.01a	3.32±0.11ab
SACC	14.53±0.99a	290.50±13.28a	0.42±0.02a	3.41±0.16a