NaCl-induced Variations in Proline, Phenol, MDA and Antioxidant Enzymes of Phaseolus vulgaris

Environmental stresses are the greatest challenges to agricultural industries. Crop enhancement is a viable alternative strategy for boosting the country’s agricultural sector. Determining how a crop responds to stress is therefore, necessary for crop development. Drought, salinity, temperature and heavy metal stress are familiar stresses that decelerate crop yield. Hence, our current study focuses on the effect of salt stress on the most potent fabaceae member, Phaseolus vulgaris. The core aims of the research are to understand the biochemical mechanisms that P. vulgaris plants have adopted to resist the harmful effects of salt. Two Accessions of P. vulgaris (Acc.7 from Trissur and Acc. 9 from Trivandrum) were subjected to different levels of salt treatments (0, 25mM, 50mM, and 75mM). The impact of salt on proline, phenol, MDA, and antioxidant enzymes was studied. The results exhibited that salt stress increased the production of all the parameters we have analyzed. The concentration increased with increasing salinity and duration of treatment. In addition to this, the amount of proline, phenol, and antioxidant enzymes was positively correlated with salt tolerance in plants. Lower MDA is also a good sign of tolerance in plants. Based on our research, it is evident that P. vulgaris plants are employing a variety of strategies to combat salinity. Besides, Accession 7 was more tolerant than Accession 9 under salt stress. This research may provide a better insight into crop improvement of P. vulgaris.