Salt Tolerance Screening of 26 Tomato Cultivars

Abstract

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is an economically important vegetable crop that is produced for consumption globally, including in Thailand. The northeast of Thailand has the greatest area for cultivating tomato in the country, but this area has problems with saline soil, which means farmers do not have enough space for cultivation. The objectives of the study were to screen the salt tolerance of tomato and study the effects of salt stress on the growth and physiology of 26 tomato cultivars. Tomato seeds were germinated on sponges for seven days, then they were moved to half-Hoagland’s solution and grown for 28 days. Data was collect before adding salt, including salt tolerance score, height and proline content. There was then supplementation with sodium chloride solution at 200 mM concentration for five days. Then the 33-day-old plants had data collected, including salt tolerance score, height, proline content and dry weight at the end of the experiment. The results showed that the salt tolerance scores for the cultivars LE153 and LE001 were the most salt tolerant, while the most sensitive cultivars were LE029, LE095, LE141, LE164, wild type, Epe Chia Tai and Sida. In terms of height, LE153 had the greatest increase. In terms of dry weight, LE153 and LE003 had the least shoot dry weight, and LE153 had the lowest root dry weight. In terms of proline content, the LE153, LE164 and LE171 varieties had the lowest increase in proline content. These finding could enable the screening of tomato for saline soil tolerance in tomato breeding programs.