Abstract:
Plants have various mechanisms such as antioxidant production to survive under NaCl
stress. In this study, amount of antioxidant related compounds; phenolic, flavonoid and
ascorbic acid produced by Striga asiatica culture culture under salinity stress was
investigated. The plantlets were cultured in MS medium containing NaCl at
concentrations of 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM for 28 days. Results showed that total
flavonoid were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by NaCl stress. However, NaCl did
significantly (p<0.05) reduce fresh and dry weight, total phenolic content and ascorbic
acid content in S. asiatica. These results also indicated that long term NaCl stress did
change antioxidant substance content in S. asiatica culture. Thus, the difference change of
total phenolic, total flavonoid and ascorbic acid content in S. asiatica cultures response to
NaCl stress enabled to distinguish the metabolic events caused by ionic or osmotic
components of salinity.
