Biostimulant modulate the physiological and biochemical activities, improving agronomic characteristics of bell pepper plants under salt stress

Biostimulant modulate the physiological and biochemical activities, improving agronomic characteristics of bell pepper plants under salt stress | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Biostimulant modulate the physiological and biochemical activities, improving agronomic characteristics of bell pepper plants under salt stress André Lucas Januário Silva, Otília Ricardo de Farias, Élida Barbosa Corrêa, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5669704/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Salinity is one of the most important environmental stresses affecting plant growth and metabolism, in irrigated areas of arid and semi-arid regions; and the use of biostimulants seems to be an efficient alternative to improve the productivity of plants under saline conditions. This study investigated the effects of salinity stress by applying different electrical conductivities (0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 dS m − 1 ) of irrigation water in combination with foliar application of biostimulant (VIUSID Agro) (0, 0.3, and 0.6 mL L − 1 ) on the growth, productivity, physiological, and biochemical responses of bell pepper plants, in a greenhouse. Done in a factorial design and completely randomized layout with five replications and the parameters evaluated were: growth and production components; gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll index, relative water content, electrolyte extravasation; organic components; and antioxidant enzymes activity (catalase and ascorbate peroxidase); and malondialdehyde content. The results showed that salinity caused a significant reduction in growth, decreased chlorophyll levels, increased malondialdehyde levels, osmorregulators and antioxidant enzyme activity. Both doses of the biostimulant effectively mitigated the effects of salt stress by maintaining higher chlorophyll levels (15% increase), improving photosynthetic performance (20% increase), and improving fruit size and quality, leaf water status, ultimately leading to improved crop performance. The foliar application of the biostimulant was an effective strategy to increase the tolerance of bell pepper plants under salt stress conditions and can be a sustainable solution for agricultural production under salinity conditions in irrigation water. Biological sciences/Biochemistry Biological sciences/Plant sciences Capsicum annuum growth osmoprotetion productivity salinity Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Generalrawdata.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 08 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 01 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 01 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 01 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 31 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 29 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5669704","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":437098251,"identity":"2a3fc6cb-62a9-431f-82cb-d92a699db1b9","order_by":0,"name":"André Lucas Januário Silva","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agronomia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"André","middleName":"Lucas Januário","lastName":"Silva","suffix":""},{"id":437098252,"identity":"6c769959-e25b-43ad-a07c-783122897078","order_by":1,"name":"Otília Ricardo de 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