ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Characterization of Salt-Tolerant Cultivars
of Date Palm Based on Morphological and
Biochemical Responses Under Salinity Stress
More details
Hide details
1
Institute of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,
Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
2
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,
Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
3
Department of Agronomy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur-63100, Pakistan
4
Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir Upper,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18000, Pakistan
5
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
6
Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
Jalan Yaacob Latif, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
7
Center of Research, Faculty of Engineering, Future University in Egypt, New Cairo 11835, Egypt
8
School of Life Sciences & Center of Novel Biomaterials, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
9
Centre for Plant Science and Biodiversity, University of Swat, Charbagh, Pakistan
10
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2023-09-11
Final revision date: 2023-11-04
Acceptance date: 2023-12-17
Online publication date: 2024-04-22
Publication date: 2024-05-23
Corresponding author
Irfan Ashraf
Institute of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,
Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Allah Ditta
Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir Upper,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18000, Pakistan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(4):4019-4029
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Abiotic stress, especially salinization, is considered a major soil problem in arid and semiarid
regions. To combat salinization, halophytes such as date palms are grown in these areas. However,
less information is available on the morphological and biochemical responses of different date palm
cultivars under high salinity. In this regard, eight cultivars of date palm were selected and treated with
different salinity levels to check the adaptive capabilities of these cultivars against salt stress in terms
of morphological and biochemical attributes. The objective of the current study was to screen these
cultivars for tolerance or susceptibility to salt stress (0, 50, 100, and 200 mM NaCl). The results of
the morphological parameters revealed the negative impact of salt stress on the morphology. Higher
concentrations of salt reduced the plant height (Haleemi, Dahakki, Sanduri, Saghoi, Tarwali, and
Hamanwali), the number of leaves (Haleemi, Basrawali, Dhakki, Sanduri, Saghoi, and Gajjar), leaf length (Haleemi, Dhakki, Sanduri, Saghoi, and Hamanwali), leaf width (Sanduri), leaf area
(Haleemi, Sanduri, Saghoi, Tarwali, and Hamanwali), fresh weight (Halimi, Dhakki, Sanduri, Saghoi,
and Tarwali), dry weight % (Halimi, Basrawali, Dhakki, Sanduri, Saghoi, Tarwali, Hamanwali,
and Gajjar) and root length (Haleemi, Basrawali, Dhakki, Sanduri, and Gajjar) in most
of the cultivars. Generally, it was observed that leaf tissues showed a significant (p≤0.05)
increase in the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) activities with
the increasing salt concentrations. Current analysis showed that salinity significantly (p≤0.05) decreased
the accumulation of total phenolic contents (TPC) in the leaf tissues of Haleemi, Basrawali, Dhakki,
Sanduri, Saghoi, Tarwali, Hamanwali, and Gajjar. However, a reduction in the carotenoid contents
in cultivars (Haleemi, Basrawali, Dhakki, Sanduri, Saghoi, Tarwali, Hamanwali, and Gajjar) was noted
with an increase in the salt concentration. Salt stress significantly reduced the anthocyanin contents
in some cultivars (Haleemi, Basrawali, Sanduri, Saghoi, Tarwali, Hamanwali, and Gajjar). This species
is highly adapted to salt stress conditions by the evolution of an osmoregulation mechanism. These
results suggest that although date palm is tolerant of high salinity, there is variation in tolerance
among different cultivars. Based on the recorded parameters, it is concluded that Saghoi was the most
salt-tolerant cultivar out of the test ones, followed by Sanduri, Tarwali, and Hamanwali, respectively.