Introduction: The growing world population and rising food demand, coupled with the increasing use of salt-affected soils and poor-quality irrigation water, have driven the search for strategies to mitigate the destructive effects of salinity stress. Given the key role of growth regulators such as jasmonic acid in improving the metabolic activity of crop plants, and considering the ecological importance of mung bean as one of the major food legumes, this study evaluated the effect of jasmonic acid foliar application on the yield and physiological traits of mung bean under salinity stress.
Materials and methods: A greenhouse factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications at 2025. Four salinity levels (0, 3, 6, and 9 dS m-1) and three jasmonic acid concentrations (0, 0.5, and 1 mM) were applied. Foliar spraying began at the flowering stage and was repeated after a 14-day interval. Total chlorophyll content, leaf sodium, calcium, and potassium content, relative water content, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index were measured. Data were analyzed using SAS (Ver. 9.4), and means were compared using the least significant difference (LSD) test.
Results: Analysis of variance showed that the main effects of salinity and jasmonic acid were significant (P ≤ 0.01) for all measured traits. The salinity × jasmonic acid interaction was also significant for sodium content, relative water content, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index. Increasing salinity from 0 to 9 dS m⁻¹ significantly reduced all studied traits and yield components, whereas jasmonic acid foliar application alleviated the adverse effects of stress. For instance, although grain yield decreased by 49% under the control treatment (0 mM jasmonic acid) at 9 dS m⁻¹ salinity compared with the non-saline condition, foliar application of 0.5 mM jasmonic acid compensated for 21% of the salinity-induced yield loss and enhanced grain yield.
Conclusion: The findings confirm that, although the optimal jasmonic acid concentration varied among traits, mung bean responded positively to both concentrations, improving all measured parameters. The 0.5 mM concentration increased grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index, while the 1 mM concentration was more effective in reducing the adverse effects of salinity on nutrient content, photosynthetic pigments, and relative water content. Overall, jasmonic acid foliar application is recommended as a practical strategy to alleviate salinity-induced damage and improve mung bean productivity in salt-affected soils. |
