The effect of salicylic acid and brassinosteroids on the performance of sweet pepper plant (Capsicum annuum) under different salinity levels

A study was carried out at the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine's experimental station to assess the effect of different concentrations of salicylic acid and brassinosteroid on pepper plants under different salinity levels in greenhouse conditions. Three salicylic acid (SA) and brassinosteroid (BR) concentrations (0, 0.05, and 0.5 mM) and three NaCl concentrations (0, 50, and 150 mM) were used. The experiment was set up as a split-plot with three replicates. Both BR and SA had a similar positive effect on fruit number per plant, total yield per plant, and SPAD, fresh and dry weight of the plant, as well as fresh and dry weight of the root. BR had no effect on plant height, whereas SA at 0.05 mM increased plant height significantly. BR had no effect on root/shoot ratio, whereas SA at 0.5 mM significantly increased root/shoot ratio. The study found that using brassinosteroid and salicylic acid reduced the effect of salinity on pepper plant yield and growth.