Foliar application of glutathione and zinc enhances growth, biochemical resilience, and genomic stability in dill under sandy soil stress

Essential oil of dill (Anethum graveolens L.) is a great source of natural raw materials due to its biological characteristics; consequently, it is used in the pharmaceutical, medical, and food preservation industries. Sandy soils in Egypt have a number of stress characteristics that reduce dill plant yield. Glutathione and zinc have a major impact on development, synthesis, physiology, metabolism, and essential oil variability of dill, particularly in arid, sandy areas. The purpose of this study was to assess productivity and genomic stability of dill plants grown in sandy soil with varying dosages of glutathione and zinc. Dill plants were foliarly treated with different rates of glutathione (0.0, 0.2, and 0.4 g L−1) and zinc (0.0, 0.5 and 1 g L−1). A statistical analysis of the average data was conducted using two-way analysis of variance. Dill plants subjected to various levels of glutathione and zinc resulted in higher values of morphological and chemical characters than those subjected to glutathione without zinc. Plants treated with 0.2 g L−1 glutathione and 1 g L−1 zinc had the highest values of fresh mass (89.6 g plant−1), dry mass (16.1 g plant−1), chlorophyll a (32.5 mg g−1), chlorophyll b (13.8 mg g−1), carotenoids (12.3 mg g−1) and essential oil yield (9.7 g 100plant−1). Plants exposed to 0.4 g L−1 glutathione with 1 g L−1 zinc had the highest amount of soluble sugars (102.4 mg g−1), flavonoids (16.3 mg g-1), phenols (34.7 mg g−1), carvone (61.7%), oxygenated monoterpenes (83.8%), glutathione reductase (12 unit/g fresh weight. min), glutathione peroxidase (7.3 unit/g fresh weight. min), catalase (10.2 unit/g fresh weight. min), peroxidase (4.5 unit/g fresh weight. min) and superoxide dismutase (12.3 unit/g fresh weight. min). Glutathione and zinc also affect the percentage of genome stability and a proteins pattern that are involved in stress reactions and metabolism. It may be summarized that productivity of dill plants can be improved with adapting them sandy soil conditions by adding glutathione with zinc. Adding glutathione and zinc to reclaimed areas helps dill producers mitigate the negative impacts of sandy soil. On the other hand, this study helps farmers reduce the negative effects of sandy soil on dill plants grown on reclaimed land as a source of natural products used in the food and pharmaceutical industries, which are an alternative to those manufactured chemically (which have harmful effects on human health and environment). Sandy soil cultivation is a major challenge facing scientists. Dill is a source of natural products that are safe for human health. Treatment with glutathione and zinc in reclaimed sandy areas leads to an increase in the area planted with dill.