Effect of Salt Stress on Morphological Characteristics and Secondary Metabolites of Some Forage Pea Cultivars

Abstract

Forage pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an annual legume forage crop grown in various regions of Türkiye. It is high in protein, carbohydrate, and digestible matter and contains minerals such as phosphorus, calcium, and vitamins A and D. Salinity stress is an important problem in the cultivation of forage peas. Salinity reduces the osmotic potential of soil solutes, making it difficult for the roots to absorb the water. This study aimed to determine some parameters of two registered forage pea cultivars at different concentrations of two salt types. The effects of these salts on the morphological characteristics and biochemical components of two different registered cultivars of pea, cv. Ateş and cv. Töre were investigated in the present study. The trials were conducted in pots and Na2SO4 and CaCl2 were applied at concentrations of 0, 50, 100 and 150 mM. As a result of the trials, the morphological characteristics like fresh and dry weights and lengths of roots and shoots were investigated along with the biochemical properties like total antioxidant activity and total phenolic content. The study was performed in 2 replicates to determine the effect of different salt types and concentrations. The critical salt concentration values for the change in shoot and root fresh weight among morphological traits were determined as 100 and 150 mM for secondary metabolites. While the cv. Töre forage pea showed the highest salt resistance in shoot and root fresh weights in the presence of Na2SO4 the cv. Ateş forage pea showed the lowest salt resistance in the presence of CaCl2. In terms of shoot and root dry weights, the cv. Töre forage pea showed the least resistance at 50 mM Na2SO4 concentration. As for plant length, the cv. Ateş forage pea cultivar showed the least resistance in shoot length at 150 mM CaCl2 concentration, while it showed the highest resistance in root length at this value. The highest total antioxidant activity for the cv. Ateş forage pea and the highest total phenolic content for the cv. Töre forage pea were determined at 150 mM CaCl2 concentration. The lowest total phenolic content value was estimated in the cv. Töre forage pea cultivar at 150 mM Na2SO4 salt concentration.