Journal of Crop Production and Processing

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Salinity is one of the greatest factors that limit the producion of horticultural crops in many parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) is an annual herbacious plant whose annual global production is over 80 million tons. In areas with warm and dry climate which are suitable for the production of tomatoes, salt is considered a major problem. This research was done in order to study the salinity effects on growth and physiological characteristics of tomato plant cultivars Super strain–B and Red clud. Firstly, seeds were planted in metal trays filled with sand in the greenhouse environment with sufficient moisture, and then seedlings in two leaf stages were transplanted to hydroponics’ medium with a Johnson nutritional solution. After establishment, the five levels of salinity treatments including, zero (control), 40, 80, 120 and 160 mM of Nacl were applied in three replications. The results showed that salt stress significantly reduces shoot and root dry weight, number of leaves, leaf area, leaf chlorophyll content, and stress index (Fv/Fm) of both cultivars. Specific leaf area (SLA) in both cultivars decreased due to salinity treatment however, this reduction was not significant in Red clud cultivar. Salinity also significantly increased the amount of proline in shoots in both cultivars. The results were suggestive of the relative resistance of tomato plant cultivar Red clud in comparison with Super strain-B to salinity conditions.

Keywords: Tomato, Salinity stress, Leaf area, Proline, Chlorophyll content, Fv/Fm.

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