Salt tolerance evaluation and relative comparison in cuttings of different omegranate cultivar

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted during a two-year period in order to evaluate and compare the salinity tolerance of 10 Iranian commercial cultivars of pomegranate. Pots were arranged in a split plot design with two factors included water salinity as main plot in 3 levels of 4, 7 and 10 dS/m and 10 pomegranate cultivars as sub-plot and 3 replications. The properties concerned during the experiment were vegetative growth, percentage of alive cuttings after 2 month and the necrosis and chlorosis of leaves. In the end of the experiment the vegetative yield and root dry weight were also measured. In addition, irrigation water, drainage water, soil in plots, root, stem and leaves were analyzed for elements such as Na + and Cl -. The obtained results indicated that the best vegetative growth conditions were related to Voshike -e-Saravan and Tab -o-Larz cultivars at 4 and 7 dS/m salinity levels, respectively. Moreover, the most significant percentage of alive cuttings was related to Voshike -e-Saravan cultivar at each of the three studied salinity levels. Similarly, this cultivar had the minimum values of leaves necrosis and chlorosis at all three levels of salinity. Furthermore, the highest level of fresh yield was related to Zagh cultivar at 4 dS/m salinity level. The highest values of total Na + and Cl -were observed in shoots and leaves of Zagh and Voshike -e-Saravan cultivars at 10 dS/m salinity level as well. In general, Voshike -e-Saravan is the most salinity-resistant cultivar among 10 studied cultivars. Besides, Malas -e-yazdi and Tab -o-larz can be planted as salinity resistant cultivars in the second hand. Other cultivar cuttings were not resistant in salinity and finally died (even after the second year) and three cultivars of Gabri, Malas -e-Esfahani and Khafri -e-Jahrom were the most sensitive cultivars with the lowest salinity resistance.

Salt resistance of tomato species grown in sand culture

“…An excess of Na + disturbs cellular ion homeostasis, and leads to other effects such as interference in enzyme activities and oxidative stress (Afzal et al 2008, Okhovatian-Ardakani et al 2010). Cl -is the most prevalent anion under saline conditions.…”

“…Salt stress is recognized as a major factor that limits plant growth, physiology and productivity, mainly by inducing osmotic effects, ion-specific effects and oxidative stress (Okhovatian-Ardakani et al 2010). Moreover, membrane stability, chlorophyll biosynthesis, carbon and nitrogen metabolism and rates of photosynthesis and respiration are also seen to be significantly hampered due to high salinity (Ashraf 2004).…”

Effects of Salt Stress on Growth, Photosynthesis, and Mineral Nutrients of 18 Pomegranate (Punica granatum) Cultivars

“…The lower RWC of NaCl-treated pomegranate leaves reflected the impairment in the capacity of water retention [25], which caused stomatal closure, then reduced the rate of photosynthesis and transpiration. A potentially negative effect of reduction in Pn and leaf area was the decreased total CO 2 assimilation and thus inhibited plant growth and development under saline conditions [24,26]. Consequently, the limited vegetative growth resulted in a smaller pomegranate plant with shorter shoots.…”

Salinity effects on colour and health traits in the pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit peel

“…The pomegranate has the reputation of being highly adaptive to a wide range of climate, water and soil conditions . It is considered moderately tolerant to salinity (Maas, 1993;Allen et al, 1998;Naeini et al, 2004); however, the mode and magnitude of the plant response to salinity are cultivar dependent (Naeini et al, 2006;Okhovatian-Ardakani et al, 2010). Based on the results of our earlier study on the evapotranspiration, crop coefficient and growth of two young pomegranate varieties under salt stress we have suggested that the term moderately sensitive to salinity more adequately describes the crop (Bhantana and Lazarovitch, 2010).…”