Effect of salicylic acid on essential oil compounds of Melissa officinalis in vitro plants

Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) presents essential oils and poliphenols with reported biological activity. Micropropagation represents an important tool for the standardization and selection of elite plants. Production of secondary metabolites in plants depends on the biotic and abiotic conditions of the culture environment. Plants induced to produce specific biologically active compounds by exogenous molecules may have their nutraceutical value increased. Salicylic acid acts in plants as an inducer of the expression of protective protein and it can be thus included into biotic elicitors. The present paper examined the effects of salicylic acid (1.5mM) aqueous solution on the essential oil composition of M. officinalis in vitro plants. The maximal content of neral/nerol (twice as large as the control content) detected by GC/ME was demonstrated after 24 hours. In vitro plants, showed an increase of 2.2 times in geranial / geraniol proportion and 1.6% of neral / nerol, after 24 hours of exposure to SA, when compared to control plants (MS0).