Mitigating Salinity Stress in Brassica campestris (L.) Varieties by Rhizospheric Application of Potassium Nitrate

Rabia Nawaz; Shafaq Sohail; Wajid Hussain; Amara Razaq; Imran Saeed; Sumrah Maqbool

doi:10.70749/ijbr.v3i9.2342

Authors

Rabia Nawaz Department of Botany, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan.
Shafaq Sohail Department of Botany, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan.
Wajid Hussain Department of Agriculture and food Technology, Karakoram International University Gilgit, Pakistan
Amara Razaq Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
Imran Saeed School of Biochemistry, Minhaj University Lahore, Pakistan
Sumrah Maqbool School of Biochemistry, Minhaj University Lahore, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70749/ijbr.v3i9.2342

Keywords:

Salt tolerance, Secondary metabolites, Rhizosphere treatment, Potassium supplementation

Abstract

The motive of the study was to evaluate the effect of Potassium Nitrate (KNO₃) on the plants which are under different levels of salt stress. Salt-induced stress is a common abiotic constraint hindering agricultural productivity, especially in salt-sensitive crops such as Brassica campestris L, used for extraction of valuable oil and biodiesel. Potassium Nitrate (KNO₃) has potential to alleviate the adverse effects of salinity, particularly in the presence of Sodium Chloride stress is discussed in this paper. In a controlled pot trial, two different Brassica campestris cultivars Tori-7 (V1) and yellow mustard (V2), were applied with six experimental treatments with different concentrations of NaCl and KNO₃. The parameters studied included secondary metabolite profiles that were fully evaluated in the study included alkaloids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds, in addition to yield attributes and measures of plant growth. As per the results, the accumulation of biomass, root and shoot elongation, vegetative development, and reproductive performance were significantly reduced by NaCl stress; the outcomes became worse with the increase in the amount of NaCl. In salty conditions, however, growth and yield parameters were augmented by the application of KNO₃ in the rhizosphere, especially in V2 that was much more salt-tolerant than V1. Notably, the concentration of secondary metabolites showed a slightly different pattern; plants subjected to salt stress contained more of such compounds, and the content of alkaloid decreased after the addition of KNO₃. The results support the notion that KNO₃ enhances the capacity of Brassica campestris to resist salt and that it may be a viable agricultural management technique to reduce salinity stress and increase crop production in salty soils.

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