Abstract
Agronomic biofortification is the purposeful utilization of mineral fertilizers to increase the concentration of desired minerals in edible plant parts for enhancing their dietary intake. It is becoming crucial to enhance the dietary intake of K for addressing hidden hunger and related health issues such as cardiac diseases and hypertension. This study was designed to enhance the potassium concentration in edible parts of spinach through its foliar application under saline environment. The salinity levels of electrical conductivity (EC) = 4, 6, and 8 dS m−1 were applied using sodium chloride (NaCl) along with control. The levels of K for foliar sprays were 5 and 10 mM, along with control. The present experiment was performed under two factorial arrangements in a completely randomized design (CRD). After 60 days of sowing, the crop was harvested. Data regarding growth, ionic, physiological, and biochemical parameters, i.e., shoot dry weight, relative water content, electrolyte leakage, total chlorophyll content, tissue sodium (Na) and K concentration, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) were recorded and those were found to be significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected by foliar application of K on spinach under saline conditions. The highest growth, physiological and biochemical responses of spinach were observed in response to foliar-applied K at 10 mM. It is concluded that agronomic bio-fortification by foliar use of K can be a useful strategy to increase tissue K intakes and minimize Na toxicity in the vegetables studied under saline conditions.
Highlights
In arid zones with low precipitation, salinity is a common problem for crop production.Potential hazards linked with salinity are ion imbalances, oxidative stress, biochemical and physical disturbances, nutrient deficiencies, plant sterility, specific ion effects, and osmotic stress which result in degraded physico-chemical properties of soils and decreased crop yield [1,2]
The shoot dry weight (SDW) of spinach was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced by salinity, which was counteracted by foliar-applied K (Table 1)
Outcomes of the present study indicated that diverse levels of salinity significantly affected the physiological and growth of spinach, whereas a significant improvement in morphological, physiological and antioxidant characteristics in spinach plant were observed under different levels of foliar applied K in salinity
Summary
Potential hazards linked with salinity are ion imbalances, oxidative stress, biochemical and physical disturbances, nutrient deficiencies, plant sterility, specific ion effects, and osmotic stress which result in degraded physico-chemical properties of soils and decreased crop yield [1,2]. Deficiency of essential nutrients e.g., K—occurred due to the presence of an excessive number of soluble salts and exchangeable Na in soil which reduce nutrient uptake and negatively affect plant metabolism and activities of many enzymes [4,5,6]. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) like hydroxyl radicals, superoxides and hydrogen peroxide are among the significant biochemical responses which occur in the plants subjected to environmental stresses [1]. The detrimental effects of ROS are evaded by the operation of an effective scavenging system of plants which consist of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) [7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
