Adenanthera pavonina is a medicinal species, which economic value depends on the richness of its phytocompounds. Extreme climatic conditions are becoming frequent worldwide, but despite their impact on plant productivity these weather events also modulate plants’ metabolism increasing the production of important phytocompounds. We aimed to characterize the physiological and metabolite adjustments in A. pavonina leaves induced by drought and UV-B radiation. Plants were exposed to drought (DS), UV-B radiation (UV-B), and drought + UV-B (DS + UV-B), and photosynthesis, lipophilic metabolites, and antioxidant status were evaluated. The stress conditions compromised the photosynthetic performance and induced oxidative stress (DS and UV-B plants). However, plants activated protective mechanisms (increased antioxidant activity and flavonoids in all treatments, total phenols in DS and DS + UV-B, and catechols in UV-B and DS + UV-B) and modulated their lipophilic profiles (accumulation of fatty acids and TCA cycle-related metabolites, and reduction of carbohydrates) to cope with the stress. We demonstrate for the first time that DS and UV-B radiation can enrich A. pavonina leaves with antioxidants and fatty acids increasing their medicinal value.

Adenanthera pavonina是一种药用物种，其经济价值取决于其植物化合物的丰富程度。极端气候条件在世界范围内变得越来越频繁，但尽管这些天气事件对植物生产力产生影响，但它们也会调节植物的新陈代谢，从而增加重要植物化合物的产量。我们的目的是表征干旱和 UV-B 辐射引起的A. pavonina叶片的生理和代谢调整。将植物暴露于干旱 (DS)、UV-B 辐射 (UV-B) 和干旱 + UV-B (DS + UV-B) 下，并评估光合作用、亲脂代谢物和抗氧化状态。胁迫条件损害了光合性能并诱导氧化胁迫（DS 和 UV-B 植物）。然而，植物激活了保护机制（所有处理中的抗氧化活性和黄酮类化合物增加，DS和DS + UV-B中的总酚，以及UV-B和DS + UV-B中的儿茶酚）并​​调节其亲脂性特征（脂肪酸的积累）和 TCA 循环相关的代谢物，以及减少碳水化合物）来应对压力。我们首次证明 DS 和 UV-B 辐射可以使A. pavonina叶子富含抗氧化剂和脂肪酸，从而提高其药用价值。