Stressful environments have been shown to affect the metabolism in some plants. In the present study, we assessedwhether semiarid\nenvironment (saline and saline alkaline soil) could affect the nutritional (total proteins, phenolics and riboflavin contents, and\ncatalase activity) and antinutritional (hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde contents) properties differently in different plant\nparts (leaves, flowers, and roots) of calendula. Although salinity decreased plant biomass, it did not affect total protein and phenolics\ncontents in the calendula. All plant parts were rich in riboflavin contents. However, plants grown under saline-alkali soil had\nrelatively more riboflavin contents in the flowers. Salinity increased hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration in the flowers and\nroots, whereas saline-alkali soil did not affect it. Plants exposed to both saline and saline-alkali soil had greater catalase activity\nin the flowers and leaves. Plants exposed to salinity had higher malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in the flowers compared with\nnonsaline and saline-alkali conditions. Nonetheless, the possibility of safely using different parts of calendula as nutraceutical was\nin the order flower > root > leaf. Overall, the results suggested that plant can be grown in mild saline-alkali (EC ? 7; pH = 8.5) soils\nwithout affecting its nutraceutical properties.
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