Physiological response of henna (Lawsonia inermise L.) to salicylic acid and salinity

Abstract

Henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) is naturally cultivated from north-east Africa to India as a medicinalindustrial plant. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possible role of salicylic acid (SA) for mitigating the salinity stress. For this purpose, we evaluated the effect of three concentrations of SA (0, 40 and 80 μM) and salinity (0, −3 and −6 bar) on photosynthetic pigments, protein content, catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) activity, electrolyte leakage and leaf relative water content (RWC). The experiment was carried out with a factorial arrangement based on complete randomized design in triplicates at University of Kerman, Iran. The results revealed that salinity caused a significant decrease in photosynthetic pigments, protein content, RWC and quantum yield of henna. By increase in salinity levels from 0 to −6 bar, the mean values of mentioned traits were reduced. CAT activity, electrolyte leakage, F 0 and F m were elevated significantly with increasing the salinity concentration. Application of SA under salinity stress increased the photosynthetic pigments, protein content, CAT activity, leaf RWCs and quantum yield, while it decreased electrolyte leakage, F 0 and F m . It can be concluded that SA alleviated the stress generated by NaCl possibly through the ameliorated antioxidant defense system.

Salinity-Induced Changes of Photosynthetic Performance, Lawsone, VOCs, and Antioxidant Metabolism in Lawsonia inermis L.

“…Lawsone production is enhanced by high temperature and high light intensity [ 6 ]. Many reports have been conducted to analyze the growth condition of henna in order to achieve information on its ability to tolerate drought and salinity [ 7 , 8 , 10 ]. However, these authors excluded the examination of the influence of the stress for the production of lawsone.…”

“…In agreement with the antioxidant activity (DPPH assay), anthocyanins and flavonoids were more concentrated in the highest salt treatment, while medium stress did not influence these molecules. The ability to modulate the mechanism of production of antioxidant molecules with the strength of salinity is already known in several plants [ 30 ], and L. inermis is considered a medium tolerant species to salt stress [ 8 , 10 ].…”

“…Several studies have been carried out to underline the effect of some abiotic factors on germination, seedling growth, and morphological and physiological traits [ 7 , 8 ]. Drought stress is considered one of the main limiting factors of the henna cultivation that alters the growth, gas exchange parameters, and photosynthetic pigment contents proportionally with the intensity of water limitation [ 7 , 9 ].…”

“…It is well known that high levels of salinity induce generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that contribute to changes in membrane peroxidation [ 12 ]. In a recent paper [ 8 ], the positive effect of salicylic acid treatment emerged in terms of improving resistance to short-term salinity stress on young henna plants, with an activation of the antioxidant defense system through an increase in catalase activity.…”

Utilization of Pruned Branches from Lawsonia inermis (Henna) in Soda and Soda Anthraquinone Pulping

“…Henna is distributed in subtropical, tropical areas and semi-arid zones in Africa and Asia, produced commercially in India, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan for its leaves [6, 11& 12]. Henna growth has different soil and climate zones, deep sandy and clay soil, arid, tropical and warm climatic conditions [13][14][15]. Lawsonia inermis is branched glabrous shrub or small tree with greyish-brown bark (Figure 1), young branches are green and red when become mature.…”