The impact of humic acid fractions on swelling and germination of ‘Progres’ and ‘Nawiko’ soybean seeds under salt and water deficit stresses

Abstract

A laboratory research was carried out to examine the impact of humic acids (HA) on swelling and germination of ‘Nawiko’ and ‘Progres’ soybean seeds under salt stress (50 mM dm<sup>−3</sup> NaCl) and water deficit stress (−0.5 MPa) induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000. HA in the form of a dry preparation was obtained from peat using the IHSS method. Tests on swelling and germination used non-fractionate preparation (NFHA) and two of its molecular fractions obtained using Millipore filters with a 30 kDa cut-off point. This enabled us to obtain two fractions: with a higher molecular weight, above 30 kDa (HMHA), and a lower molecular weight, below 30 kDa (LMHA). The carbon concentration in HA solutions, used in all tests, was 0.005 g C<span><sub>HA</sub></span> dm<sup>−3</sup>. The results showed that HA mitigate the negative impact of salinity and water deficit on swelling and germination of soybean seeds.