Abstract
Areca (Areca catechu L.) is a tropical plant with great economic importance. In China, the fruit of areca (betel nut) is produced mainly in Hainan Province. However, the yield of betel nuts was impacted seriously by frequent water deficits in Hainan Province. Drought causes deleterious effects on the growth and development of areca plants, especially on young seedlings, which hampered the extensive planting of areca. In this study, a reagent of a superabsorbent polymer (SAP) was applied into the culture soil and we analyzed its function against drought stress when seedlings were grown under different irrigation levels. We observed that SAP application caused a significant increase in plant weight under severe drought, as well as in the maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) and actual photochemical efficiency of PSII [Y(II)] index of chlorophyll (chl), indicating the photosynthetic efficiency of seedlings under severe drought (D) was enhanced by SAP. The antioxidant enzyme activity of areca seedlings under D was indicated to be enhanced by the increasing activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD), but not catalase (CAT). In addition, SAP even has slight negative effects on the growth of seedlings under adequate water. Our results provide a theoretical basis to improve the viability of areca seedlings under severe drought using SAP, which is urgently needed for the market.
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