{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T23:04:44Z","timestamp":1787267084147,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]],"date-time":"2023-03-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1679529600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Water stress is one of the critical abiotic stresses and limiting factors in the productivity of plants, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In recent years, the application of bio-fertilizer and stress-modulating nanoparticles (NPs) is known as one of the eco-friendly strategies for improving plants quantity and quality under stressful conditions. In order to achieve the desirable essential oil (EO) quality and quantity of thyme in water deficit conditions, a 2-year field experiment was carried out as a split plot based on the randomized complete block design (RCBD), with 12 treatments and three replications. The treatments included different irrigation levels, containing irrigation at 80% field capacity (FC80) as no stress, 60% FC as moderate water stress (FC60) and 40% FC as severe water stress (FC40), as well as four different fertilizer sources, including non-application of fertilizer (control), application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), chitosan NPs (CHT) and co-application of AMF+CHT NPs. The results demonstrated that the dry yield of thyme decreased by 13% and 40.3% under FC60 and FC40 water stress conditions. However, co-application of AMF+CHT NPs enhanced the dry yield of thyme by 21.7% in comparison to the control (non-application of fertilizer). The maximum EO content (2.03%) and EO yield (10.04 g 7 g m\u22122) of thyme were obtained under moderate water stress (FC60) fertilized with AMF+CHT NPs. Co-application of AMF+CHT NPs enhanced the EO content and EO yield of thyme by 17.1% and 42.7%, respectively. Based on the GC-MS and GC-FID analysis, 38 constituents were identified in the thyme EO, with the major constituents being thymol (35.64\u201341.31%), p-cymene (16.35\u201319.38%), \u03b3-terpinene (12.61\u201313.98%) and carvacrol (2.78\u20133.93%) respectively. The highest content of thymol and \u03b3-terpinene was obtained under moderate water stress (FC60) fertilized with AMF+CHT NPs. In addition, the highest content of p-cymene and carvacrol was observed in the severe water stress (FC40) fertilized with AMF+CHT NPs. The present research suggests that the co-application of AMF+CHT NPs represents a sustainable and eco-friendly strategy for improving the EO quantity and quality of thyme under water stress conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants12071422","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]],"date-time":"2023-03-23T02:35:26Z","timestamp":1679538926000},"page":"1422","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["Improvement in Essential Oil Quantity and Quality of Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) by Integrative Application of Chitosan Nanoparticles and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi under Water Stress Conditions"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6145-1049","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mostafa","family":"Amani Machiani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh 55181-83111, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdollah","family":"Javanmard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh 55181-83111, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1072-6449","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ali","family":"Ostadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh 55181-83111, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khoshnood","family":"Alizadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dryland Agricultural Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Maragheh 55176-43511, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Amani Machiani, M., Javanmard, A., Habibi Machiani, R., and Sadeghpour, A. 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