مشخصات پژوهش

Salinity stress is an increasingly prevalent environmental constraint that not only limits plant growth but also affects the biochemical quality of medicinal plant products [16, 17]. In seed-based medicinal species such as Nigella sativa, seeds represent the final, integrative outcome of whole-plant physiological responses to environmental stress[16, 17]. Changes in secondary metabolite composition in seeds therefore reflect the cumulative impact of salinity on the plant’s metabolism, making seed tissues a critical indicator of both stress adaptation and the functional quality of the harvested organ. However, seed-specific biochemical responses to salinity stress have received limited attention in plant physiological research, leaving a gap in our understanding of how whole-plant stress translates into seed bioactive potential. This lack of accessible, seed-focused physiological data limits the translation of stress physiology findings into medicinal plant quality assessment. Phenolic and flavonoid compounds play central roles in plant defense against abiotic stresses and are widely used as indirect indicators of antidiabetic-related bioactivities in medicinal plants[18]. Despite their recognized importance, little information is available on how salinity stress alters total phenolic and flavonoid contents in N. sativa seeds using physiologically relevant, accessible, and reproducible methodologies. The significance of the present study lies in its focus on seeds as integrative indicators of plant stress responses and its employment of simple, robust biochemical assays applicable in routine plant physiology laboratories. By linking salinity-induced metabolic changes in seeds to potential antidiabetic-related bioactivities, this research provides a more comprehensive and functionally relevant understanding of environmental stress effects on medicinal plant quality, bridging the gap between stress physiology and practical evaluation of bioactive compounds.