Role of salicylic acid in regulating ethylene and physiological characteristics for alleviating salinity stress on germination, growth and yield of sweet pepper

Abstract

Salicylic acid suppressed ethylene evolution from germinating seeds up to 30% under stress of 60 mM NaCl due to elevated levels of TSS and SOD activity. Foliar application of SA upgraded SOD by lowering POD activity to improve NUE particularly K use efficiency at salinity stress of 60 mM NaCl. Application of 0.2 and 0.3 mM SA emerged as the most effective concentrations of SA for mitigating 60 mM NaCl stress on different physiological and morphological characteristics of sweet pepper.