Alleviating negative effects of salinity stress in summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) by biochar application

Abstract

One of the most important stresses imperiling plant 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 arrangement on the basis of randomized complete design was accomplished to evaluate the influence of BC on some physiological traits 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 in the 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 in the 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.