Magnetic technology to reduce the effects of saline stress on tomato plants

Abstract

Salinity is an abiotic stress that impacts the plant antioxidative system, leading to an increase in lipoperoxide formation in the membrane, and a subsequent decrease in crop productivity. This study aims to examine the impact of magnetically treated water, applied via fertigation, on tomato plants grown in varying concentrations of salts. This study used a factorial design (5 × 2), with five salinity levels applied through fertigation (1.5; 2.5; 4.0; 5.5 and 7.0 dSm−1) and two forms of water treatment (unmagnetized - UW and magnetically treated water - MW), with ten replications. Biochemical, photosynthetic, nutritional and biometric factors were analyzed. When tomato was submitted to irrigation with MW at a salinity of 2.5 dSm−1, its activity of the enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) increased compared to UW. This indicates that the plant responded to the salinity. At salinity levels of 5.5 and 7.0 dSm−1 and MW, those enzymes exhibited greater activity compared to UW. Furthermore, regarding to the photosynthetic characteristics, there was a rise in the production for the doses of 5.5 and 7.0 dSm−1 when irrigated with MW. Therefore, irrigating tomato crops with magnetically treated water can serve as a viable solution to mitigate the negative impacts of saline stress.