Effect of NaCl Salinity on Germination, Physiological and Biochemical Parameters of Plantago ovata Forsk

Since NaCl stress is a major limiting factor for plant production and growth, we investigated the effect of different salinity stress levels (control, 15, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mM NaCl) on some physiological and biochemical parameters of Plantago ovata for 30 days. The experiment was laid out as a completely randomized design in a factorial arrangement with three replications. Low concentrations of NaCl (0-25 mM) increased chlorophyll content as compared with control, however, this factor decreased gradually at high concentrations of NaCl (50-300 mM). The proline content increased significantly as NaCl concentration augmented. The accumulation of Na⁺ increased in a concentration dependent manner with maximum of 205 mg kg^-1 at 300 mM, which indicates the relative resistance ability of this plant to salinity. We conclude that Plantago ovata has physiological traits associated with accumulation of NaCl to relative high levels and it can be useful for restoring salinity and recovery of the salinity-contaminated sites.