Title : ( Alleviating negative effects of salinity stress in summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) by biochar application )
Authors: Leila Mehdizadeh , Mohammad Moghaddam , Amir Lakzian ,Access to full-text not allowed by authors
Abstract
One of the major stresses imperiling crop production in arid and semi-arid areas is salinity. By slow pyrolysis, a solid organic material, which is called biochar -BC-, has been produced from waste organic substances. In this research, a pot factorial experiment based on completely randomized design was performed to evaluate the effect of BC on some physiological characteristics and growth at two different growth stages of summer savory -Satureja hortensis L.- under salinity stress. The treatments were included of three levels of BC -0, 1 and 2% w/w of soil- and four salinity levels -0, 40, 80 and 120 mM of NaCl- with four replications. According to the findings, application of BC, especially at 2% w/w of soil under salinity stress, reduced electrolyte leakage -EL- and antioxidant enzyme activities i.e. ascorbate peroxidase -APX-, catalase -CAT-, superoxide dismutase -SOD-, guaiacol peroxidase -GPX- activities and MDA content at vegetative and flowering stages. On the other side, the highest amounts of biomass and water content were observed when using BC 2% w/w of soil without salinity stress. The results confirmed that BC usage can contribute to the protection of the summer savory against salinity stress by alleviating the oxidative stress.