Effect of Salinity Stress on Plant Growth Parameters and Antioxidant Activity In Some Cucumber Cultivars (Cucumis sativus L.) Grown Under In Vitro Conditions

In this study, effects of salinity (NaCl) at different concentrations (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 mM) on the growth of cucumber plants were determined in in vitro conditions. The study was carried out in the plant tissue culture laboratory of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Faculty of Sivas Science and Technology University (Sivas, Türkiye) . Experiments were conducted with 3 different cucumber varieties. Mureshige and Skoog (MS) was used as the basic nutrient medium. During the study, some parameters were evaluated such as germination rate (%), salt tolerance index (%), stem fresh and dry weight (g), root fresh and dry weight (g), actual water content (%), stem and root lengths and visual scale values. Also, antioxidant capacity were determined by DPPH and ABTS. When the effect of different NaCl doses on the varieties was evaluated, the highest antioxidant capacity was obtained from HD medium (173.21 μmol TE g-1 dw) in the DPPH analysis and from HC medium (251.06 μmol TE g-1 dw) in the ABTS analysis. In the study, the highest germination rate was obtained in the variety 1 (94.36%) and in the HA medium (96.05%). In the actual water content, the variety average was the highest in the variety 2 (91.16%) and the medium average was the highest in the HA (91.71%). The highest stem length was determined in the variety 1 (26.40 mm) and in the HA medium (24.48 mm). Considering the results of the study, although there were differences among the varieties, the increase in NaCl concentration negatively affected germination and plant growth in cucumber.