Salicylic acid at different plant growth stages affects secondary metabolites and phisico-chemical parameters of greenhouse tomato

Abstract

Most of the researches on Salicylic acid (SA) have focused on postharvest application or acquiring stress resistance, while studies on its effect on plant growth, secondary metabolites and fruit quality are limited. SA as foliar application (0, 150, 300 and 450 mg/L) at different plant growth stages on fruit yield, secondary metabolites and quality features of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Kardelen) under greenhouse conditions were evaluated. The highest fruit yield per plant (about 1.3-fold greater than control) was obtained from 300 mg/L SA when applied three weeks after fruit set. Comparing to control plants, the highest fruit firmness, 10 days prolonged storability, highest total phenolics (22.6 mg gallic acid equivalent per 100 g fw); and highest antioxidant activity (65.11) were observed when 450 mg/L SA applied at fruiting stage and 3 weeks later. An increasing pattern in ascorbic acid content was observed with increasing SA concentration irrespective to application time. The same concentration effect was observed in flavonoid content when plants treated at 3 weeks after fruiting. The highest effect of flavonoids on antioxidant activity was calculated using Pearson correlation (r=0.82). SA concentrations greater than 450 mg/L showed significant adverse effects on all measured traits. The effect of exogenous SA on tomato plant depends on the developmental stage and SA concentrations tested. Improved fruit quality factors may happen in a certain concentration range, while over that may have negative or adverse effect.