The influence of salt stress on the morpho physiological and biochemical parameters of durum wheat varieties (Triticum durum Desf.)

Abstract

Wheat is an important cereal in terms of human consumption in many countries of the world. It is grown mainly in arid and semi-arid Mediterranean countries. In these areas, salinity of soils and irrigation water is one of the limiting factors in plant productivity and agricultural yield. The present work consisted in evaluating the morpho-physiological and biochemical behavior of two durum wheat varieties V1 (Gta dur), V2 (Vitron) subjected to increasing concentrations of NaCl during the germination phase and the growth phase in the laboratory. The results obtained showed several revelations in terms of morphological imbalance (leaf area, germination percentage, root length, physiological variation, decrease or increase of assimilating pigments, Relative Water Content (RWC), etc), and biochemical bioaccumulation (proline, soluble sugars, proteins and elevation of activity of CAT antioxidant enzymes). At the level of treatments, the development of the seedlings of two varieties was better on soil salty and sprinkled with water than in the presence of saline concentrations. A certain tolerance of the two genotypes was particularly marked in the Vitron variety against salt stress.