Form of Silica Improves Yield, Fruit Quality and Antioxidant Defense System of Tomato Plants under Salt Stress

Zeus H. Pinedo-Guerrero, Gregorio Cadenas-Pliego, Hortensia Ortega-Ortiz, Susana González-Morales, Adalberto Benavides-Mendoza, Jesús Valdés-Reyna and Antonio Juárez-Maldonado
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Zeus H. Pinedo-Guerrero: Doctorado en Agricultura Protegida, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Coahuila 25315, Mexico
Gregorio Cadenas-Pliego: Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Saltillo, Coahuila 25294, Mexico
Hortensia Ortega-Ortiz: Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Saltillo, Coahuila 25294, Mexico
Susana González-Morales: CONACyT-Departamento de Horticultura, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Coahuila 25315, Mexico
Adalberto Benavides-Mendoza: Departamento de Horticultura, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Coahuila 25315, Mexico
Jesús Valdés-Reyna: Departamento de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Coahuila 25315, Mexico
Antonio Juárez-Maldonado: Departamento de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Coahuila 25315, Mexico

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: Tomato crop is valuable worldwide thanks to its commercial and nutritional value, which plays a very important role in the human diet. However, in arid areas, tomato crops can be found with high salt content. Salinity is a major problem for agriculture, as it decreases productivity, lowers economic yields, and induces soil erosion. The application of silicon has been observed to increase tolerance to abiotic stress and specifically to salt stress. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the application of K 2 SiO 3 and SiO 2 nanoparticles (SiO 2 NPs) on the growth, antioxidant content, and tolerance to saline stress of tomato plants. Plant growth, fruit quality parameters (pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, firmness), antioxidant capacity (ABTS, DPPH), enzymatic (SOD, PAL, APX, CAT, GPX) and non-enzymatic (flavonoids, phenols, vitamin C, β-carotene, lycopene) antioxidant compounds, chlorophylls, proteins, and H 2 O 2 were evaluated. The application of SiO 2 NPs at 500 mg L −1 had positive effects on the plants that were not subjected to stress, increasing the average fruit weight, fruit yield, and chlorophyll, phenol, glutathione, and GPX activity. Meanwhile, in plants under salt stress, it helped to maintain the concentration of chlorophylls, GSH, PAL activity, and vitamin C. The application of SiO 2 NPs is more effective than K 2 SiO 3 at inducing positive responses in tomato plants subjected to stress by NaCl.

Keywords: nanotechnology; environmental stress; antioxidants; biocompounds; reactive oxygen species (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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