African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (10), pp. 855-861, 16 May 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Responses of three tomato cultivars to sea water salinity 1. Effect of salinity on the seedling growth

Hajer, A. S., Malibari, A. A., Al-Zahrani, H. S.* and Almaghrabi, O.A.

Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

*Corresponding authors E-mail: hmobarak2002@yahoo.com.

Accepted 20 February, 2006

Abstract

The effect of sea water salinity (1500, 2500 and 3500 ppm) on the growth of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) cultivars (Trust, Grace and Plitz) was studied. The sea water salinity delayed seed germination and reduced germination percentage especially with increasing salinity level.   Chlorophyll b content was higher than chlorophyll a, and both of them decreased with increasing salinity. The seedling height increased with time but decreased with increasing salinity in all cultivars. Seedlings fresh and dry shoot and root weights were decreased with increasing salinity. The growth of stem, leave and root after over 80 days of exposure to sea water salinity was affected by sea water dilution especially those of trust and grace cultivars. The grace cultivar was less affected by sea water salinity on the germination stage, while the plitz cultivar has good tolerant to sea water salinity for prolonged period.    

Key words: Tomato cultivars, Lycopersicon esculentum, salinity, germination, chlorophyll and growth.