Evaluation of the usability of ancient hulled wheat in saline soil cultivation based on enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense responses

Abstract

Soil salinization is the second most crucial factor causing soil degradation after soil erosion, which reduces crop yields by severely restricting plant growth and development. In this study, the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defenses of four different ancient hulled wheat against exogenously administered glycine-betaine (0.5 mM) along with sodium and potassium-based individual (0-200 mM) and combined (50–100 mM) salt stresses. According to the results obtained here, we tried to predict the tolerance of these varieties to salt stress and the extent to which they can be used in saline/sodic soils. According to the study results, sodium and potassium chloride-based salts above 100 mM cause high stress levels in hulled wheat. When sodium and potassium chloride salts are given together, this stress decreases by approximately 20–30%. When supplemented with exogenous glycine-betaine, almost all the adverse effects of stress disappear, especially in the T. boeoticum variety, and the plant regains normal growth functions. Especially in soils where salinity is caused by sodium, ancient hulled wheat is grown rather than modern cultivated wheat, and if potassium fertilizers are given to the plants in addition to nitrogenous fertilizers, the plant can control the ingress of salt into the cell and cope with salinity stress by maintaining the intracellular K⁺/Na⁺ balance. As a result, successful results can be achieved in terms of food safety by increasing the product yield.