Abstract: An in vitro investigation was conducted to evaluate the potential role of exogenously applied ascorbic acid in alleviating the effect of sodium chloride (NaCl) in two varieties of rice, Oryza sativa L. (MRQ74 and MR269), that differ in salt tolerance susceptibility. Seven-day-old rice seedlings germinated on Murashige and Skooge (MS) medium were transferred to MS media containing (200 mM) NaCl and (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 mM) ascorbic acid for 14 days. The results showed that both varieties of seedling, when exposed to salt stress, exhibited a significant reduction in N, K+, chlorophyll and growth characteristics, fresh weight, dry weight and the lengths of shoot and root. However, the exogenous ascorbic acid in the medium led to an improvement and amelioration of the NaCl stress.