Table 2.

Levels of primary metabolites (mg g⁻¹ dry weight) in Thymus vulgare grown under normal conditions (control) or the effect of eCO₂ (620 ppm), AMF or their combination (AMF-eCO₂). Values are mean ± standard error of five independent replicates. Asterisks indicate significant changes (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01) compared to control, as revealed by the Student’s t-test. Lowercase letters indicate significant differences (^a p < 0.05; ^b p < 0.01) between AMF alone and the combined AMF+eCO₂ treatment.

	Control	eCO2	AMF	AMF + eCO2
Sugars
Glucose	1.34 ± 0.07	2.18 ± 0.12 **	1.32 ± 0.07	2.14 ± 0.01 b
Fructose	0.34 ± 0.05	0.45 ± 0.02	0.4 ± 0.02	0.76 ± 0.06 b
Sucrose	1.67 ± 0.15	2.07 ± 0.15	2.19 ± 0.04 *	2.85 ± 0.1 b
Soluble sugars	6.09 ± 0.31	10.29 ± 0.3 **	9.46 ± 0.35 **	11.44 ± 0.8
Starch	62.06 ± 1.89	79.26 ± 4.63 *	60.1 ± 1.7	85.22 ± 1.68 b
Total carbohydrates	105.38 ± 3.08	137.1 ± 6.75 *	105.62 ± 6.31	147.79 ± 2.01 b
Organic acids
Oxalic	3.84 ± 0.33	2.97 ± 0.06	5.7 ± 0.34 *	7.75 ± 0.29 b
Malic	6.88 ± 0.3	6.25 ± 0.34	6.36 ± 0.29	7.38 ± 0.36
Isobutyric	3.46 ± 0.33	2.89 ± 0.46	6.34 ± 0.67 *	7.67 ± 0.53
Fumaric	0.93 ± 0.01	0.96 ± 0.08	0.67 ± 0.04 **	1.14 ± 0.07 b
Succinic	3.07 ± 0.33	4.21 ± 0.29	5.08 ± 0.39 *	6.31 ± 0.58
Citric	2.88 ± 0.33	5.32 ± 0.28 **	4.17 ± 0.54	5.9 ± 0.2 a
Essential amino acids (EAAs)
Histidine	2.49 ± 0.19	2.75 ± 0.3	3.19 ± 0.23	2.95 ± 0.38
Isoleucine	0.15 ± 0.02	0.26 ± 0.03 *	0.28 ± 0.03 *	0.34 ± 0.01
Leucine	0.02 ± 0	0.03 ± 0	0.03 ± 0 *	0.04 ± 0
Lysine	4.2 ± 0.21	4.55 ± 0.29	4.97 ± 0.25	6.67 ± 0.5 a
Methionine	0.02 ± 0	0.02 ± 0 *	0.03 ± 0 *	0.03 ± 0
Phenylalanine	0.33 ± 0.04	0.68 ± 0.03 **	0.76 ± 0.1 *	1.31 ± 0.08 a
Valine	0.48 ± 0.05	0.58 ± 0.06	0.78 ± 0.08 *	1.72 ± 0.07 b
Threonine	0.11 ± 0.01	0.16 ± 0.02	0.19 ± 0.02 *	0.21 ± 0.01
Arginine	1.86 ± 0.13	2.35 ± 0.25	3.14 ± 0.34 *	3.76 ± 0.17
Total EAAs	9.66	11.38	13.37	17.03
Non-essential amino acids (NEAAs)
Aspartate	0.03 ± 0	0.05 ± 0	0.06 ± 0.01 *	1.51 ± 0.1 b
Cystine	0.03 ± 0	0.2 ± 0.02 **	0.12 ± 0.01 **	0.62 ± 0.06 b
GlutamIic acid	77.02 ± 5.21	97.05 ± 3.71 *	82.21 ± 5.27	132.44 ± 6.78 b
Glutamine	96.66 ± 6.05	106.65 ± 0.98	159.99 ± 6.47 **	180.39 ± 9.12
Asparagine	1.23 ± 0.12	1.8 ± 0.19	1.84 ± 0.13 *	2.05 ± 0.09
Glycine	1.18 ± 0.13	2.03 ± 0.22 *	2.2 ± 0.24 *	2.67 ± 0.29
Ornithine	0.18 ± 0.03	0.21 ± 0.02	0.27 ± 0.04	0.32 ± 0.02
Proline	1.25 ± 0.06	2.24 ± 0.08 **	2.79 ± 0.15 **	3.52 ± 0.19 a
Serine	0.35 ± 0.04	0.59 ± 0.06 *	0.64 ± 0.07 *	0.78 ± 0.08
Tyrosine	0.99 ± 0.11	1.3 ± 0.02 *	1.64 ± 0.06 **	1.41 ± 0.09
Alanine	18.65 ± 0.97	22.22 ± 0.76 *	25.09 ± 0.67 **	28.06 ± 0.53 a
Total NEAAs	197.57	234.34	276.85	353.77
Saturated fatty acids (SFA)
Lauric (C12:0)	1.42 ± 0.17	1.6 ± 0.15	1.31 ± 0.26	2.24 ± 0.19 a
Tetradecanoic (C14:0)	1.7 ± 0.15	2.6 ± 0.12 **	2.44 ± 0.14 *	3.05 ± 0.18
Hexadecanoic (C16:0)	10.18 ± 0.87	13.08 ± 0.73	13.38 ± 0.55 *	19.8 ± 1.14 b
Heptadecanoic (C17:0)	0.62 ± 0.06	0.81 ± 0.09	0.95 ± 0.09 *	1.62 ± 0.09 b
Octadecanoic (C18:0)	2.26 ± 0.21	2.96 ± 0.33	3.46 ± 0.34 *	5.9 ± 0.33 b
Eicosanoic (C20:0)	2 ± 0.19	2.16 ± 0.19	2.9 ± 0.14 *	4.06 ± 0.4
Total SFA	18.18 ± 1.15	23.2 ± 0.68 *	24.43 ± 0.94 *	36.68 ± 0.38 b
Unsaturated fatty acids
Myristoleic (C14:1)	0.61 ± 0.06	0.8 ± 0.09	0.94 ± 0.09 *	1.6 ± 0.09 b
Palmitoleic (C16:1n-7)	1.61 ± 0.08	2.02 ± 0.1 *	1.48 ± 0.16	3.47 ± 0.19 b
Octadecenoic (C18:1)	7.45 ± 0.7	11.29 ± 0.35 **	10.51 ± 0.24 *	15.82 ± 0.23 b
Erucic acid (C22: 1)	12.19 ± 0.73	9.22 ± 0.28 *	12.93 ± 2.31	12.2 ± 0.54
Octadecadienoic (C18:2)	16.68 ± 1.57	24.65 ± 2.14 *	25.5 ± 1.48*	40.43 ± 0.78 b
Octadecatrienoic (C18:3)	5.36 ± 0.5	7.01 ± 0.28 *	6.1 ± 0.28	8.97 ± 0.28 b
USFA	43.9 ± 2.2	55 ± 2.55 *	57.46 ± 0.63 **	82.48 ± 0.68 b
SFA/USFA	0.35	0.34	0.35	0.35