Application of Potassium Humate and Salicylic Acid to Mitigate Salinity Stress of Common Bean

Hossam S El-Beltagi; Hala Hazam Al-Otaibi; Aditya Parmar; Khaled M A Ramadan; Allan Klynger da Silva Lobato; Mohamed M El-Mogy

doi:10.3390/life13020448

Application of Potassium Humate and Salicylic Acid to Mitigate Salinity Stress of Common Bean

Life (Basel). 2023 Feb 5;13(2):448. doi: 10.3390/life13020448.

Authors

Hossam S El-Beltagi^{1

2}, Hala Hazam Al-Otaibi³, Aditya Parmar⁴, Khaled M A Ramadan^{5

6}, Allan Klynger da Silva Lobato⁷, Mohamed M El-Mogy⁸

Affiliations

¹ Agricultural Biotechnology Department, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
² Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Gamma Street, Giza 12613, Egypt.
³ Food and Nutrition Science Department, Agricultural Science and Food, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK.
⁵ Central Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11241, Egypt.
⁷ Nucleo de Pesquisa Vegetal Basica e Aplicada, Universidade Federal Rural da Amazonia, Paragominas 68627-450, Para, Brazil.
⁸ Vegetable Crops Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt.

Abstract

In the current study, we investigated the effect of potassium humate (Kh) and salicylic acid (SA) in mitigating the salinity stress of common bean plants. Common bean seedlings were treated with 0.2 g/L SA as a foliar application and 0.3 g/L Kh as a soil application individually or in combination. After 7 days of germination, plants were treated with 50 mM NaCl and normal water as a control. Our results indicate that salt treatment reduced the plant growth (fresh and dry shoots and roots), leaf pigments (total chlorophyll and carotenoids), ascorbic acid (AA), glutathione (GSH), and potassium (K) contents. On the contrary, proline content; sodium (Na); hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂); superoxide anion (O₂^•-); and antioxidant enzymes, including catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), were increased by saline stress. However, applying either individual Kh and SA or their combination stimulated seedling growth under salinity stress by increasing growth parameters, leaf pigment contents, AA, GSH, proline content, K content, and antioxidant enzymes compared with the control. Additionally, Na content, H₂O₂, and O₂^•- were reduced by all applications. The application of the Kh (0.3 g/L) + SA (0.2 g/L) combination was more effective than using the individual compounds. In conclusion, applications of Kh + SA can mitigate salt stress and improve the seedling growth of common bean.

Keywords: Phaseolus vulgaris; abiotic stress; antioxidant enzymes; humic acid; sodium chloride.

Grants and funding

Grant 2,401/Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia