Abstract
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is an important medicinal, food and feed plant. Salinity can affect its growth and quality to some extent. However, adverse effects of salinity may be alleviated upon selecting salt tolerant genotypes and application of salicylic acid. Therefore, a 2-year pot experiment was conducted with three salinity levels (control, 65 mM and 130 mM NaCl), three levels of foliar application of salicylic acid (0, 0.5 mM and 1 mM SA) and seven chicory genotypes (Ardestan, Hamedan, Shiraz, Mazandaran, Sanandaj, Kashan and Yazd). Treatment characterized with 65 and 130 mM salinity levels led to significant decrease in relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI), chlorophyll a(Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b) and carotenoid (Car) contents and shoot dry weight (SDW) while significant increase in leaf proline (LPC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents. Moreover, the highest changes in measured traits were observed at salinity level of 130 mM. Salicylic acid application at levels of 0.5 and 1 mM SA significantly ameliorated all measured traits and the greatest values were attributed to 1 mM SA. Among genotypes, Sanandaj accounted for the highest measured traits but the lowest content of MDA while Ardestan characterized with the lowest measured traits and the highest content of MDA. Salinity decreased MSI, Car and SDW while it increased LPC and MDA in all genotypes with different magnitude. Application of SA reduced MDA in all genotypes and also led to increase in RWC, MSI, Chl a, Chl b, Car, LPC and SDW and diminution in MDA under control and specially under salt stress conditions. Sanandaj with the application of 1 mM SA under control and saline conditions was the best genotype among all genotypes. The results suggested that SA may improve performance of chicory genotypes under control and saline conditions by announcing physiochemical traits.
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