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Soil Sodicity Alters Antioxidative Enzymes, Photosynthetic Pigments, Water
Content and Essential Oil Quality of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) |
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Pramod Kumar Singh,
Praveen Kumar and Pramod Kumar Tandon |
Abstract:
Soil sodicity is worldwide problem in arid and semi-arid region. In India large
areas of sodic soils exist. Screening of commercial crops for their tolerance
towards sodicity can encourage farmers to grow them on these lands thereby rehabilitating
them. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a cash crop and its aromatic fruit
is used as condiment and also in traditional and modern medicine. A soil pot
culture study was conducted to assess salt tolerance status of fennel in sodic
soils. The plants were raised on soil having different levels [10, 20, 25, 35
and 40 ESP (exchangeable sodium percentage)] of soil sodicity in complete randomized
design. Various parameters such as plant growth, biomass, activities of anti-oxidative
enzymes, water content, proline accumulation, concentration of photosynthetic
pigments, cation concentration and essential oil quality were studied. Results
indicated that increasing soil sodicity resulted in significant decreases in
plant growth, biomass and leaf water potential (Ψ became more negative).
However, cell sap pH, electrical conductivity, sodium concentration and proline
accumulation were increased. Increasing soil sodicity increased activities of
antioxidant enzymes like catalase and superoxide dismutase while peroxidase
and nitrate reductase declined. The chlorophylls and carotenoid concentration
decreased at higher sodicity while carotenoids/chlorophyll ratio increased.
Seed quality improved at higher ESP. The gas chromatogram for essential oil
revealed that improved seed quality resulted from increased trans-Anethole (sweetness
of seed) and decreased d-fenchone (bitterness of seed) content. Thus, fennel
crops can be recommended for growth in sodic soils (ESP up to 25) with economic
gains.
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How to cite this article:
Pramod Kumar Singh, Praveen Kumar and Pramod Kumar Tandon, 2014. Soil Sodicity Alters Antioxidative Enzymes, Photosynthetic Pigments, Water
Content and Essential Oil Quality of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.). Research Journal of Soil Biology, 6: 1-16.
DOI: 10.3923/rjsb.2014.1.16
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=rjsb.2014.1.16
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