Abstract:
Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) belongs to the Poaceae family, is a widely cultivated
cereal crop worldwide. However, increasing soil salinity has led to significant yield losses in
wheat. Amino acid (AA)-rich biostimulants induce crop resilience to abiotic stress. Still, its
efficacy for overcoming salinity stress in cereals remains unexplored. Recent studies show
the capability of fish biostimulants (FB) to alleviate salinity stress in Asteraceae crops.
Therefore, in this study, we investigated the salinity impact by applying different
treatments(T) (0, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% v/v) of FB on Jinmai No. 1 wheat subjected to induced
salinity levels (0, 40 mM, 80 mM, 120 mM NaCl) with non-treat controls, Experimental
setup arranged in a completely randomized design with 4 replicates. Data were analyzed
in a two-way ANOVA using SPSS. Results showed the abundance of stress-responsive AAs
in FB, which significantly improve seed germination and plant growth parameters while
mitigating the negative impact of salinity. T1 reported the highest seed germination and
plumule development. Under severe salinity (S120 mM), results showed significantly
higher values for relative water content (0.81±0.00%), leaf count (5.25±0.25), carotenoids
(0.23±0.03 gml-1), in T1 and internode count (2.87±0.3), total chlorophyll count (1.68±0.03
gml-1) in T2 and shoot weight (1.46±0.12 cm) in T3 conversely, significantly lower soluble
carbohydrates (78.60±10.0 mg g−1) in T2 and antioxidants including superoxide dismutase
(31.02±0.20 µml-1), peroxidases (2.68±0.63 µml-1), in T4 compared to the control.
Moreover, these parameters fluctuated depending on their role in plant stress alleviating
mechanisms. Therefore, it can be elucidated that the use of FB is a sustainable approach
for improving crop resilience under salinity stress, contributing to eco-friendly modern
agriculture.
