Abstract—Salinity is one of the main environmental stresses affecting plant production. The technique of seed priming has been introduced as a means to improve germination and establishment under environmental stress. This study aimed to determine the best material for the priming of basil seed under salt-stress. Treatments included seed priming of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) with salicylic acid (SA) at 0.5 mM and potassium nitrate (KNO3) at 5% and salinity stress with potassium chloride (KCl) (50, 100, 150 mM), calcium chloride (CaCl2) (50, 100, 150 mM) and the control (irrigation water) with and without priming. The results showed that salt stress decreased morphological traits such as leaf area, number of leaves, root length, and dry weight of roots compared to the control. The lowest and highest chlorophyll contents were observed in the KNO3 × KCl (150 mM) and SA × KCl (100 mM) treatments, respectively. The highest amount of antioxidant compounds was obtained in the treatment with 150 mM CaCl2 alone. It was found that the use of SA was more effective than KNO3 and that the priming treatments were able to mitigate the negative effects of salt stress on the basil plant by accelerating germination and more uniform and rapid seedling growth, leading to better plant growth. As a result, priming seeds before planting under salt stress conditions led to an improvement in the growth indicators of the basil plant and can be mentioned as a strategy to increase plant efficiency under salt stress conditions.

Keywords