Response of Duranta erecta L. Var. Variegata Plants to The Proline and Ascorbic Acid Under Irrigation by Seawater

Open Access Abstract The study was carried out at the Faculty of Desert Agriculture and Environmental in Fouka, Matrouh University (Matrouh governorate) Egypt, during the two consecutive seasons of 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. The investigation aimed to study the response of Duranta erecta L. Var. Variegata plants to the proline concentrations (0.0, 40 and 80 ppm) and ascorbic acid concentrations (0.0, 100 and 200 ppm) under irrigation by seawater levels (0.0, 2000, 4000 and 6000 ppm) and their combinations on plant growth and some chemical constituents of Duranta erecta L. Var. Variegata plants. The study was designed in a split-plot design in random completely block design (RCBD) with three replications. In this experiment, the main plot was salt water levels and the sub-plot was spraying by proline and ascorbic acid treatments. The obtained results showed that irrigation plants with salinity levels (2000, 4000 and 6000 ppm) significantly decreased growth parameters; number of branches, number of leaves per branch, leaves fresh weight per branch, stem diameter, leaf area, total leaf chlorophyll contents, total carotenoid contents, leaf relative water content, leaf proline content and some chemical constituents (N, P, Fe, Mn) compared to control. Moreover, the highest values were recorded by proline at 80 ppm followed by 200 ppm ascorbic acid in both seasons. This study showed that treated plants with proline and ascorbic acid alleviating the negative effects of salinity stress on duranta growth.