Exogenous Application of Calcium Ameliorates Salinity Stress Tolerance of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and Enhances Fruit Quality.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Islam, Md. Moshiul Jahan, Khurshida Sen, Arpita Urmi, Tahmina Akter Haque, M. Moynul Ali, Hayssam M. Siddiqui, Manzer H. Murata, Yoshiyuki
Editor	Fidalgo, Fernanda Sharma, Anket Soares, Cristiano
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	Tomato is affected by various biotic and abiotic stresses, especially salinity, which drastically hinders the growth and yield of tomato. Calcium (Ca) is a vital macronutrient which plays physiological and biochemical roles in plants. Hence, we studied the protective roles of Ca against salinity stress in tomato. There were eight treatments comprising control (nutrient solution), 5 mM Ca, 10 mM Ca, 15 mM Ca, 12 dS m−1 NaCl, 12 dS m−1 NaCl + 5 mM Ca, 12 dS m−1 NaCl + 10 mM Ca and 12 dS m−1 NaCl + 15 mM Ca, and two tomato varieties: BARI tomato-2 and Binatomato-5. Salinity significantly decreased the plant-growth and yield attributes, relative water content (RWC), photosynthetic pigments (SPAD value) and the uptake of K, Ca and Mg in leaves and roots. Salinity-induced oxidative stress was present in the form of increased Na+ ion concentration, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content and lipid peroxidation (MDA). Ca application reduced oxidative stress through the boosting of antioxidant enzymatic activity. Exogenous Ca application enhanced proline and glycine betaine content and reduced Na+ uptake, which resulted in the inhibition of ionic toxicity and osmotic stress, respectively. Hence, Ca application significantly increased the growth and yield attributes, RWC, SPAD value, and uptake of K, Ca and Mg. Calcium application also had a significant effect on the fruit quality of tomato and the highest total soluble solid, total sugar, reducing sugar, β-carotene, vitamin C and juice pH were found for the combined application of NaCl and Ca. Therefore, application of Ca reversed the salt-induced changes through increasing osmoprotectants, activation of antioxidants enzymes, and by optimizing mineral nutrient status.
Journal	Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland)
Volume Number	12
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10044850
Issue Number	3
PubMed reference number	36978806
e-ISSN	20763921
DOI	10.3390/antiox12030558
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Publisher Date	2023-02-23
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). © 2023 by the authors.
Subject Keyword	NaCl stress calcium reactive oxygen species antioxidant enzyme activity fruit quality
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Biochemistry Cell Biology Molecular Biology Physiology Clinical Biochemistry Food Science