Alleviation of salt stress by increasing potassium sulphate doses in four medicinal and aromatic plants

Figures & data

Table 1. Detailed work schedule of salinity application.

Plants	NaCl Applications
	I (25 mM)	II (25 mM)	III (25 mM)	IV(25 mM)
Coriandrum sativum	15.06.2015	23.06.2015	02.07.2015	08.07.2015
Foeniculum vulgare	15.06.2015	23.06.2015	02.07.2015	08.07.2015
Ocimum basilicum	15.06.2015	23.06.2015	–	–
Anethum graveolens	15.06.2015	21.07.2015	06.08.2015	10.08.2015

Table 2. Effect of different potassium sulphate (K₂SO₄) doses on plant height (cm), fresh and dry herb (g plant^–1), fresh and dry leaf (g plant^–1) of evaluated plants under salinity and control conditions.

Plants	K2SO4 (mg kg^−1)	Plant height		Fresh herb		Dry herb		Fresh leaf		Dry leaf
		Control	Salinity	Control	Salinity	Control	Salinity	Control	Salinity	Control	Salinity
A. graveolens	Control	23.83 ab*	8.43 d	18.65 b	6.30 d	1.95 b	0.14 c	11.23 d	1.29 e	1.42 b	0.11 c
	150	26.04 a	19.10 c	29.24 a	7.81 d	3.15 a	0.74 c	21.01 a	2.91 e	2.24 a	0.52 c
	300	26.17 a	19.90 c	25.68 a	12.30 c	2.69 a	1.57 b	14.30 c	3.77 e	1.79 ab	0.57 c
	450	26.17 a	21.67 bc	29.97 a	15.67 bc	3.15 a	1.70 b	17.34 b	2.31 e	1.50 b	1.27 b
	Avr.	25.55 A*	17.28 B	25.88 A	10.52 B	2.848 A	1.04 B	15.97 A	2.57 B	1.74 A	0.62 B
	LSD (0.05)	3.61		4.44		0.74		2.49		0.60
F. vulgare	Control	24.33 a	20.83 ab	17.17 a	12.56 b	1.43 ab	1.40 ab	8.79 ab	6.28 c	0.81 b	0.72 bc
	150	23.67 a	17.27 b	15.67 a	5.77 c	1.73 ab	1.17 b	7.54 abc	3.05 d	0.97 ab	0.46 c
	300	22.53 a	22.03 a	18.79 a	16.22 a	2.30 a	1.96 ab	9.37 a	6.79 bc	1.06 ab	0.81 b
	450	21.17 ab	22.37 a	15.95 a	17.24 a	1.40 ab	1.92 ab	7.84 abc	9.17 a	0.87 b	1.22 a
	Avr.	22.93 A	20.63 B	16.88 A	12.95B	1.72 A	1.61 A	8.38 A	6.32 B	0.93 A	0.80 A
	LSD (0.05)	4.16		2.99		0.91		1.92		0.33
C. sativum	Control	17.60 ab	11.83 cd	23.27 ab	8.68 cd	2.43 a	2.11 abc	14.28 ab	6.11 de	1.91 a	1.23 bc
	150	15.18 abc	9.67 d	24.44 a	8.22 cd	1.90 bc	1.70 cd	11.07 c	5.77 de	1.47 abc	1.04 c
	300	17.00 ab	10.58 d	21.87 ab	7.31 d	2.65 a	1.18 d	15.48 a	4.99 e	1.92a	0.96 c
	450	17.75 a	14.12 bc	19.93 b	11.59 c	2.27 abc	2.42 ab	12.94 bc	7.90 d	1.70ab	1.37 abc
	Avr.	16.84 A	11.55 B	22.12 A	8.95 B	2.31 A	1.85 B	13.44 A	6.19 B	1.75 A	1.15 B
	LSD (0.05)	3.26		3.49		0.54		2.35		0.55
O. basilicum**	Control	17.10 c	9.00 d	11.10 d	3.66 e	1.69 cd	1.49 d	6.52 e	2.64 f	0.56 d	0.60 d
	150	22.67 b	16.67 c	31.47 a	6.93 e	3.93 a	2.96 abc	23.33a	5.30 e	2.25 a	0.49 d
	300	28.20 a	21.0 bc	19.63 c	4.61 e	2.24 bcd	1.12 d	12.78 c	2.93 f	1.40 bc	0.40 d
	450	30.67 a	20.83 bc	24.80 b	11.23 d	3.11 ab	2.07 bcd	17.87 b	8.32 d	1.77 ab	0.70 cd
	Avr.	24.41 A	16.88 B	21.75 A	6.61 B	2.74 A	1.911 B	15.12 A	4.80 B	1.50 A	0.55 B
	LSD (0.05)	4.05		3.39		1.19		1.71		0.73

*, Means within column and row having the same letter are not significantly different from each other at 5% level (Capital letters indicate rows and small letters indicate columns).

**, Ocimum basilicum was applied NaCl doses until 50 mM salinity dose.

Table 3. Effect of different potassium sulphate (K₂SO₄) doses on fresh and dry shoot (g plant^–1), fresh dry root (g plant^–1) and root length (cm) of evaluated plants under salinity and control conditions.

Plants	K2SO4 (mg kg^−1)	Fresh shoot		Dry shoot		Fresh root		Dry root		Root lenght
		Control	Salinity	Control	Salinity	Control	Salinity	Control	Salinity	Control	Salinity
A. graveolens	Control	7.32 c*	0.33 e	0.57 b	0.01 d	1.64 bc	0.16 e	0.69 a	0.22 bc	11.83 bc	10.67 bc
	150	11.66 ab	2.56 d	0.97 a	0.23 c	2.51 a	0.70 de	0.89 a	0.23 bc	11.42 bc	13.17 ab
	300	11.05 b	3.38 d	0.90 a	0.29 c	1.55 bc	0.94 cd	0.55 ab	0.31 bc	9.83 c	15.10 a
	450	12.54 a	2.63 d	1.01 a	0.22 c	2.01 ab	0.48 de	0.66 a	0.14 c	10.38 bc	12.67 abc
	Avr.	10.64 A*	2.23B	0.86 A	0.19 B	1.93 A	0.57 B	0.70 A	0.23 B	10.77 B	12.90 A
	LSD (0.05)	0.99		0.18		0.72		0.32		2.88
F. vulgare	Control	7.86 ab	6.26 b	0.46 bc	0.48 bc	1.36 a	0.83 bc	0.28 a	0.19 ab	9.37	8.60
	150	8.21 ab	2.67 c	0.45 c	0.22 d	0.77 c	0.36 d	0.10 cd	0.07 d	7.83	8.90
	300	9.45 a	8.90 a	0.61 abc	0.65 ab	1.24 ab	0.96 abc	0.18 bc	0.15 bcd	8.83	8.25
	450	7.78 ab	8.05 ab	0.50 bc	0.70 a	0.87 bc	0.87 bc	0.13 bcd	0.20 ab	8.64	9.25
	Avr.	8.32 A	6.47 B	0.50	0.51	1.06 A	0.76 B	0.17	0.15	8.67	8.75
	LSD (0.05)	2.07		0.18		0.39		0.08		2.24
C. sativum	Control	6.96 ab	2.19 c	0.52 abc	0.31 de	1.44 b	0.92 cd	0.33 c	0.29 c	11.00 a	10.93 ab
	150	5.38 b	1.91 c	0.43 bcd	0.32 de	2.25 a	0.76 d	0.91 a	0.23 c	9.83 ab	9.83 ab
	300	7.36 a	2.04 c	0.55 ab	0.25 e	1.47 b	1.32 b	0.34 c	0.54 b	10.93 ab	9.42 b
	450	6.83 ab	3.37 c	0.57 a	0.41 cd	1.13 bc	1.13 bc	0.34 c	0.21 c	10.00 ab	10.08 ab
	Avr.	6.63 A	2.38 B	0.52 A	0.32 B	1.57 A	1.03 B	0.48 A	0.32 B	10.27	10.07
	LSD (0.05)	1.70		0.13		0.32		0.16		1.38
O. basilicum**	Control	2.41 b	1.09 b	0.31 d	0.48 cd	2.26 ab	0.68 e	1.11 a	0.20 c	8.45	7.67
	150	8.05 a	1.68 b	1.44 a	0.40 d	2.69 a	1.35 cd	0.88 a	0.36 bc	9.18	9.33
	300	6.83 a	1.79 b	0.89 bc	0.18 d	1.97 b	0.51 e	0.50 b	0.15 c	9.03	7.50
	450	7.22 a	2.67 b	1.19 ab	0.36 d	1.70 bc	0.99 de	0.49 b	0.24 bc	9.67	8.17
	Avr.	6.13 A	1.81B	0.96 A	0.35 B	2.16 A	0.88 B	0.75 A	0.24 B	9.17	8.17
	LSD (0.05)	1.72		0.45		0.58		0.25		2.65

*, Means within column and row having the same letter are not significantly different from each other at 5% level (Capital letters indicate rows and small letters indicate columns).

**, Ocimum basilicum was applied NaCl doses until 50 mM salinity dose.

Figure 1. Concentration of Na⁺ in evaluated plants (mg kg⁻¹) by increasing K₂SO₄ doses under salinity and control conditions.

Figure 2. Concentration of Cl⁻ in evaluated plants (mg kg⁻¹) by increasing K₂SO₄ doses under salinity and control conditions.

Table 4. Salinity and pH values of growth media of different potassium levels and salinity and control conditions.

Treatments	Doses/Varieties	Salinity (µS cm^−1)	pH
Potassium Sulphate (mg kg^−1)	Control	4174 A	7.64 B
	150	4040 A	7.66 B
	300	3754 B	7.73 A
	450	3789 B	7.64 B
	LSD (0.05)	167	0.04
NaCI (mg kg^−1)	Control	1675 B	7.70 A
	100	6206 A	7.64 B
	LSD (0.05)	118	0.03
Plants	Anethum graveolens	4636 A	7.62 B
	Ocimum basilicum	3088 C	7.69 A
	Coriandrum sativum	3961 B	7.68 A
	Foeniculum vulgare	4074 B	7.68 A
	LSD (0.05)	167	0.04

Figure 3. Concentration of Ca⁺² in evaluated plants (mg kg⁻¹) by increasing K₂SO₄ doses under salinity and control conditions.

Figure 4. Concentration of K⁺ in evaluated plants (mg kg⁻¹) by increasing K₂SO₄ doses under salinity and control conditions.

Figure 5. Concentration of Mg⁺² in evaluated plants (mg kg⁻¹) by increasing K₂SO₄ doses under salinity and control conditions.

Figure 6. Concentration of in evaluated plants (mg kg⁻¹) by increasing K₂SO₄ doses under salinity and control conditions.