Antioxidant and antimicrobial responses associated with in vitro salt stress of in vitro and in vivo grown Pistacia khinjuk stocks

P. khinjukStocks, known as Bttm or Buttum in Turkey, is a member of the Anacardiaceae family. The essential oil of khinjuk pistachio has been used to treat various illnesses because of their anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antipyretic, antibacterial, anthelmintic, antiviral effects in various folk medicines. At the same time, fruits of khinjuk pistachio are used as edible wild fruits. In this study, it was aimed to determine and compare the antibacterial, antioxidant activities and total phenolic and flavonoid amounts of different parts (root, stem and leaf explants) of in vivo (grown naturally) and in vitro derived khinjuk pistachio plants under salt (NaCl) stress. Ethanol extracted explants were used for performing biological and chemical parameters. According to the results, generally, in vivo samples shows higher antioxidant and antimicrobial activity besides the higher number of phenolic compounds than their counterparts in vitro. We have also determined that the biological activity of in vitro salt elicited explants was higher than in vitro control explants. Generally, both female and male in vivo samples have higher antioxidants (DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC) and antimicrobial activities than in vitro samples. The various plant parts (root, stem, leaf) belonging to both in vivo and in vitro samples have different biological activity level. In terms of antimicrobial activity, female plant extracts are more active than all other tested extracts. As a result, although increased salinity values significantly reduced antimicrobial activity, it is determined that 100 mM NaCl applications to in vitro leaf extracts exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and C. albicans.