Effect of salinity stress on phytochemical characteristics of Centella asiatica

• Published in: Journal of applied and natural science Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 684 - 691
• Main Authors: Gupta, Sonal, Waoo, Ashwini A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Haridwar Applied and Natural Science Foundation 2022
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Antioxidants; Centella asiatica; Comparative analysis; Flavonoids; Phenols; Photochemicals; Phytochemicals; Plant cells; Plant growth; Proteins; Reactive oxygen species; Salinity; Salinity effects; Salinity tolerance; Salts; Sodium chloride; Tannins
• ISSN: 0974-9411; 2231-5209
• DOI: 10.31018/jans.v14i2.3387

Salinity is one of the predominant abiotic stresses which affects plant growth by inducing excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that leads to oxidative damage of plant cells. Plants alleviate salinity stress by regulating intracellular concentrations of various phytochemicals like phenol, tannin, antioxidants, etc. The present work aimed to study the impact of salt stress on the production of various phytochemicals like phenol, tannin, flavonoids, antioxidants, total protein content, etc. The Salt stress response of the test plant Centella asiatica was studied by irrigating variant concentrations (50mM, 100mm, 150mm, 200mM, 250mm) of salt (NaCl). The phytochemical activity of the plants grown under salinity stress was estimated by using an appropriate biochemical assay. Comparative analysis of the photochemical activity of the test plants in comparison with the control revealed that various phytochemicals were increased in response to salt stress. Salt stress increased the levels of antioxidants from 10.79 to 14.31 μg/ml), phenol from 30.8 to 43.3 in μg/ml, flavonoids (from 490 to 683.33 in μg/ml), tannin from 55.5 to 64.5 in μg/ml, and proteins from 5720 to 6080 in μg/ml in the C. asiatica plants. To sum up, salt stress elicited phytochemical accumulation in the C. asiatica plant, thereby improving the plant's growth by enhancing its resistance to salt stress. This finding may play an important role in the sustainable cultivation of commercially important crops like C. asiatica.