Physiological and phytochemical response to drought stress of German chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.)

In arid and semi-arid regions where water availability is a major limitation, using plants with low water consumption is one way to manage available water efficiently. Chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) may be considered as an economical crop for fields with water scarcity due to its considerable adaptability to a wide range of climates and soils. A field experiment was conducted during 2007–2008 using complete randomized block design with four replications in order to evaluate the effect of drought stress on agro-morphological characters (fresh flower weight, dried flower yield, shoot weight and root weight), oil content, oil composition and apigenin content of chamomile. Drought stress had four different levels of soil moisture depletion (30%, 50%, 70% and 90%). Analysis of variance showed that drought stress decreased plant height, flower yield, shoot weight and apigenin content but it had no significant effect on oil content or oil composition. Impacts of drought stress on growth indices were evaluated as well and the results indicated that plant managed to maintain potential for biomass production under the drought stress. Growth analysis results as well as phytochemical properties of this plant showed that despite decrease in agronomical traits, chamomile could be proposed as a moderate drought resistant medicinal plant with a reasonable performance.

Research highlights
► Chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) may be considered as an economic crop for improving water use efficiency (WUE).
► Findings of this study may support future breeding programs for introducing genetically drought resistance plants and improving biologically water saving strains.
► Chamomile performances under the drought stress condition suggested it as a moderate drought resistant medicinal plant.