Impacts of Ascorbic Acid and Alpha-Tocopherol on Chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) Grown in Water Deficit Regimes for Sustainable Production

Hossam S. El-Beltagi, Sikandar Shah, Sami Ullah, Sulaiman, Abdallah Tageldein Mansour and Tarek A. Shalaby
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Hossam S. El-Beltagi: Agricultural Biotechnology Department, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Sikandar Shah: Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan
Sami Ullah: Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan
Sulaiman: Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan
Abdallah Tageldein Mansour: Animal and Fish Production Department, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Tarek A. Shalaby: Department of Arid Land Agriculture, College of Agricultural and Food Science, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-16

Abstract: Drought is a major abiotic stress forced by the changing climate that affects plant production and soil structure and functions. A study was conducted to explore the impacts of ascorbic acid (AsA) and α-tocopherol (α-toc) on the agro-physiological attributes and antioxidant enzymes of chickpea grown in water deficit regions. The results of the soil analysis showed that the electrical conductivity (EC) and pH were decreased from 521 mS/m and 7.08 to 151 mS/m and 6.6 in 20-day drought regimes, respectively. Agronomic outcomes showed that exogenous application of AsA and α-toc increased the germination rate index (GRI), mean germination time (MGT), germination energy (GE), water use efficiency (WUE), germination percentage (GP), and seed vigor index (SVI). However, all the above attributes experienced a decline under 10- and 20-day drought stress. Similarly, the Chl. a, Chl. b, carotenoids, proline, protein, sugar, glycine betaine, and hydrogen peroxide contents were significantly increased. Meanwhile, malondialdehyde, glutathione reductase, and enzymatic antioxidants (APOX, SOD, and POD) increased during 10- and 20-day drought, except CAT, which decreased during drought. The exogenous fertigation of these growth regulators improved the photosynthetic pigments and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in stressed plants. The current research concludes that simultaneous dusting of AsA and α-toc could be an efficient technique to mitigate the antagonistic impacts of drought, which might be linked to the regulation of antioxidant defense systems.

Keywords: agronomic characteristics; alpha-tocopherol; ascorbic acid; drought tolerance; secondary metabolites (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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