evaluation of morphophysiological and phytochemical characteristics of datura stramonium and d. innoxia from iran under controlled conditions

Objective: datura genus is an important annual or perennial medicinal plant, belonging to solanaceae family. this study aimed to discover the diversity of compounds in the essential oils of datura stramonium and d. innoxia focusing on morphophysiological and phytochemical traits.methods: seeds of d. stramonium and d. innoxia were collected from the provinces of west azarbaijan, ardabil, and yazd in iran. they were sown in grow bags and placed in a greenhouse for three months at an air temperature of 25 °c. air-dried areal parts were prepared and their essential oils were isolated by hydro-distillation. the essential oils’ content and composition were measured, using gas chromatography.results: the comparison of morphophysiological, phytochemical, and volatile compounds of datura showed a significant variation in all examined datura populations. camphor (17.5%), selin-11-en-4alpha-ol (8.5%), n-dodecane (6.8%), and isobornyl acetate (6.3%) were major compounds in the oil of d. stramonium. those of d. innoxia were mainly fatty alkanes, including n-dodecane (13.8%), n-tetradecane (12.0%), n-hexadecane (11.0%), and 3-dimethyl-2-pentanol (6.8%). the maximum values of leaf length, leaf width, and chlorophyll as important indicators among populations were identified in d. stramonium from ardabil (p2) with 15.7 cm, 14.2 cm, and 6.06 mg/100 g fw, respectively. genotype plus genotype by trait interaction (ggt) biplot analysis showed that the two first principal components (pc1 and pc2) acquired 87.6% of the total variation. also, ggt biplot polygon was able to separate turgor, a west azarbaijan population (p3) with higher values of antioxidant activity traits, chlorophyll a (chla), chlb, chlt, carotenoid, spad, flowering branches, seed weight, and altitude.conclusion: the extracts from the aerial parts of datura have a relatively high level of antioxidants and total phenolic contents. notably, significant differences were identified between d. stramonium and d. innoxia, regarding the studied morphophysiological and phytochemical traits. population p4 (d. innoxia grown in abarkuh, yazd), is recommended for its promising phytochemical properties.