Mineral nutrient status, some quality and morphological characteristics changes in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars under salt stress.

Abstract

Peanut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) is considered to be one of the most important crops which thrive in newly reclaimed sandy soils as a leguminous crop of high nutritive value and a source of edible oil. Our study tested the effects of different salt levels on mineral nutrient partitioning (Na + , K + , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , P and N) and some quality (dry weight and leaf relative water content) and morphological (plant height, number of leaves) characteristics of peanut commercial cultivars. Four peanut cultivars (Mbiah, Ngondo, Pyrieur and Vanda) were used in this experiment. Three concentrations of salt solution including 50, 100 and 200 mM NaCl and the control (Wacquant nutrient solution) were used in irrigation. The pot experiment was arranged in completely randomized design with four replicates. The leaf relative water content (LRWC) provoked by the salinity in nutrient solution decreased from 85.08 to 83.43%, 87.82 to 85.30%, 85.81 to 78.20% and 85.90 to 79.70% in Mbiah, Ngondo, Pyrieur and Vanda cultivars respectively. The results showed that the salt stress reduced significantly (p 0.05) reduced under salt stress in Ngondo plant organs except at high salt-treated (200 mM NaCl). The Ngondo cultivar was observed to have relatively higher tolerance on average of all growth parameters and mineral nutrient status than others. This finding suggested that the Ngondo cultivar could be used to highlight the newly salt cultivated sandy soils in arid, semi-arid regions and similar environments across Cameroon. Key words: Arachis hypogaea , growth parameters, mineral nutrient, plant organs, salt stress.