Protective role of Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed biomass conjugated organic minerals as therapeutic nutrients to enhance tomato plant grown under salinity stress

Abstract

AbstractClimate changes and stresses negatively affected the physiological processes inside plant cells, which led to a clear imbalance in the global diet. In both irrigated and non-irrigated areas, salinity is one of the principal abiotic factors influencing plant growth and production, especially in crop plants. The present experiment was designed to evaluate two types of foliar feeding as anti-salt stress by measuring stress tolerant and antioxidant levels. Foliar feedings, Gluamin Cu, and Ascophyllum nodosum (WeGrow Special) were used as therabutic nutrients and stress raisers on plants irrigated with saline solution (150 mmol) and others irrigated with tap water. After 70 days of plant life, morphological characteristics, plant pigments, osmosis levels, phenols, and antioxidant enzyme activity were measured as indicators of plant recovery from stress damage. Measurements of vegetative growth, photosynthesis, sugars, and protein content decreased significantly in stressed plants. On the contrary, the level of proline, phenol, malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium (Na +) and the activity of antioxidant enzymes increased compared to non-stressed plants. The beneficial impacts of the foliar feedings (Gluamin Cu and WeGrow Special) have been broadened to increase all growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, proline, phenol, and enzyme activities, in both unstressed and stressed plants in comparison to control. Interestingly, the harmful impact of salinity on tomato plants was significantly decreased and it can be evident from reduced MDA and H2O2 levels. The results indicated that Gluamin Cu at a concentration of 3 cm L−1 foliar was the best treatment in increasing shoot length by 18.75%, root length by 51.8%, number of leaves by 31.5%, chlorophyll A by 98.9% and chlorophyll B by 47.6%, proline 12.6%, peroxidase by 39.6%, polyphenol oxidase by 14.29%, super oxide dismutase by 16.4%, and catalase by 54.9% in stressed plants compared to the stressed control. These results indicated that the use of any of the foliar nutrients (Gluamin Cu and WeGrow Special) considered to raise the salt stress in the plant and improve its morphological characteristics and metabolic processes inside the cells, and thus it can be used and applied commercially as environmentally friendly anti-salt stress.