Potential of natural plant extracts as biostimulants to alleviate salt stress-induced adverse effects on wheat

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the role of different plant extracts in alleviating salt stress-induced adverse effects on wheat plants. Two potential wheat cultivars, Galaxy-2013 and Faisalabad-2008, were sown in November 2020 in saline soil with soil electrical conductivity of 9.8 dS m^-1. At the booting and anthesis stages, the wheat plants were exogenously sprayed with three different types of plant extracts, i.e., moringa leaf extract (MLE, 3%), sorghum water extract (SWE, 2%), and brassica water extract (BWE, 2.5%). The MLE spray at the booting and anthesis stages resulted in a maximal increase in 1000-grain weight (34-43%), grain yield (25-29%), biological yield (39-40%) and harvest index (23-24%) of wheat over the control. However, exogenous application of all three plant extracts in both wheat cultivars increased plant height (44-64%), spike length (99-100%), number of spikelets (40-42%), and grains per spike (32-64%), as compared to the untreated plants grown under saline conditions. Similarly, chlorophyll (Chl) a, Chl b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoid contents were higher in the MLE-treated plants than those of the plants treated with the other extracts. Overall, MLE at the rate of 3% had the most significant growth promoting effect on both wheat cultivars under saline conditions. Cultivar Faisalabad-2008 fed with different plant extracts was superior to Galaxy-2013 in terms of its performance in growth and physiological attributes under field saline stress.