Dioscorea zingiberensis is a valuable medicinal herb rich in steroidal saponins. To reveal the role of jasmonic acid (JA) on physiology and steroidal saponins accumulation, D. zingiberensis were treated with different concentrations of JA. The antioxidant capacity, photosynthetic parameters, fatty acids and metabolites related to steroidal saponins biosynthesis (phytosterols, diosgenin and steroidal saponins) were examined under JA treatment. The results demonstrated that JA treatment caused a great reduction in MDA, stomatal width, photosynthetic rate and photosynthetic pigment, induced a considerable increase in proline, soluble sugar, soluble protein and antioxidant enzymes (CAT, POD and SOD), and leaded to a significant up-regulation in the expression of genes related to antioxidant system and chlorophyll degradation. Specialized metabolites displayed various changes under different concentrations of JA. The majority of fatty acids exhibited negative responses to JA treatment in leaf and rhizome. In leaf, JA treatment enhanced the accumulation of phytosterols and diosgenin, but decreased the accumulation of steroidal saponins. However, steroidal saponins were mainly accumulated in rhizome and were highly increased by JA treatment. Redundancy analysis illustrated that fatty acids were strongly associated with metabolites related to steroidal saponins. Among all fatty acids, C16:0, C18:1, C18:3, C22:0 and C24:0 contributed most to the variation in metabolites related to steroidal saponin biosynthesis. Overall, JA treatment leaded to an increase in steroidal saponins, but an inhibition of plant growth. Thus, the negative effects of JA application on plant physiology should be carefully assessed before being utilized to increase the production of steroidal saponins in D. zingiberensis.

薯蓣是一种富含甾体皂甙的名贵药材。为了揭示茉莉酸 (JA) 对生理和甾体皂苷积累的作用，用不同浓度的 JA 处理D. zingiberensis 。在 JA 处理下检测了与甾体皂苷生物合成（植物甾醇、薯蓣皂苷元和甾体皂苷）相关的抗氧化能力、光合参数、脂肪酸和代谢物。结果表明，JA处理导致MDA、气孔宽度、光合速率和光合色素显着降低，脯氨酸、可溶性糖、可溶性蛋白显着增加。和抗氧化酶（CAT、POD 和 SOD），并导致与抗氧化系统和叶绿素降解相关的基因表达显着上调。特化代谢物在不同浓度的 JA 下表现出不同的变化。大多数脂肪酸对叶和根茎中的 JA 处理表现出负面反应。在叶片中，JA处理增强了植物甾醇和薯蓣皂苷元，但减少甾体皂苷的积累。然而，甾体皂苷主要在根茎中积累，并且通过JA处理大大增加。冗余分析表明脂肪酸与甾体皂苷相关的代谢物密切相关。在所有脂肪酸中，C16:0、C18:1、C18:3、C22:0 和 C24:0 对甾体皂苷生物合成相关代谢物的变化贡献最大。总体而言，JA 处理导致甾体皂苷增加，但抑制植物生长。因此，在用于增加姜黄中甾体皂苷的产量之前，应仔细评估 JA 对植物生理的负面影响。