A

Abstract

High temperature imposes adverse effects on plant’s metabolic processes which influence its productivity and crop yield. Curcuma longa L is an economically important perennial medicinal crop plant cultivated globally. In general, C. longa L. grown in sub-tropical and tropical regions which encompasses temperatures around 40 °C. Any crop plants when subjected to high temperature will definitely prone to stress conditions ultimately affecting its productivity. Till date there are no reports on temperature stress studies in turmeric. Hence the present work is focused on monitoring antioxidant defense mechanisms by exposing potted plants of four different Curcuma longa L. cultivars aging 3 months to a temperature of 42 °C. Here we investigated levels of MDA and chlorophyll contents to assess the stress intensity. Further we examined the antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, APX, GR) upon treatment with high temperature to understand the response of different cultivars. Our results revealed the alterations in antioxidant defense mechanism within cultivars conferring tolerance/sensitivity towards high temperature stress. Our given study would throw a light into key aspects of antioxidant defense systems in response to high temperature in C. longa L., this provides an platform for stress biology researchers to generate stress tolerant cultivars.