Evaluation of wheat tolerance during germination and early growth stages to detergent-contaminated water

Abstract

Abstract Drought is the major challenge of the present century in agricultural areas. Water scarcity has led to the use of contaminated water. The objective of the study was to determine the tolerance of wheat, Sirvan cultivar, to detergent contaminated water and drought at germination and early growth stages. The research included germination and pot experiments. In the germination experiment, laundry detergent concentrations of 0.05 g L−1, 0.5 g L−1, and 5 g L−1 were used to produce contaminated water and isoosmotic potential of polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used to produce water stress. In the pot experiment, the concentrations used in the germination experiment were applied with two irrigation intervals of 2 and 4 days. The results showed that at an osmotic potential of −0.217 MPa of laundry detergent and PEG, all germination traits were drastically reduced, but radicle length and length-based seed vigor were reduced at an osmotic potential of −0.035 MPa of detergent. A laundry detergent concentration of 5 g L−1 combined with drought reduced plant height, leaf area, fresh weight of leaves and stems, and relative water content of leaves. The seed germination stage was more sensitive to the laundry detergent than the early growth stage. It is recommended to irrigate wheat (Sirvan variety) at the germination stage with water that is not contaminated with detergent.