Exogenous Application of Foliar Salicylic Acid and Propolis Enhances Antioxidant Defenses and Growth Parameters in Tomato Plants

Abstract

Salicylic acid (SA) and propolis (PR) are known to regulate the physiological process and to have a relevant role in bioactive compounds content. Our experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of SA and PR application on the growth, yield, and quality parameters of tomato grown for the fresh market in field conditions in Egypt. We studied the effect of twelve treatments where SA (0.50, 1.00, 1.50, 2.00, and 2.50 mM) and PR (1, 2, 10, 20, and 100 mg propolis mL−1) were applied at increasing doses as a sole agent or combined each other (1.50 mM + 10 mg mL−1 for SA and PR, respectively). An untreated control was also considered. Tomato plants treated with SA (0.50, 1.00, and 1.50 mM) showed a significant effect in all traits especially SA1 (0.50 mM) in growth parameters and SA2 (1.00 mM) in pigment and antioxidant content. Propolis foliar application was more effective than SA as it revealed that raising the concentration of aqueous extract enhanced the growth parameters and pigment in tomato. The best result was obtained by the 10 mg mL−1 treatment. The effect of propolis on antioxidant enzymes varied as the 10 mg mL−1 treatment was effective on peroxidases and superoxide dismutase, while 100 mg mL−1 was more effective on catalase. Salicylic acid and propolis have a positive effect on both preserving tomato plants and on nutrient supply, so the mixed intermediate concentration (1.50 mM + 10 mg mL−1) is considered very effective and results in an improvement of all plant traits.

Salicylic Acid Spraying Affects Secondary Metabolites and Radical Scavenging Capacity of Drought-Stressed Eriocephalus africanus L.

“…This activity is mainly attributed to the phenolic components' redox properties and chemical structures that can neutralize the reactive oxygen species [38]. Previous studies also showed that the combination of SA with other elicitors as propolis in small concentrations may enhance the antioxidant capacity of some crops like tomato [39]. The major identified phenolic in the UPLC-ESI-MS/MS profiles, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid (Table 2, Figure 1), was reported to have strong antioxidant activity [40,41].…”

Effectiveness of Seed Priming and Soil Drench with Salicylic Acid on Tomato Growth, Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Severe Water Deficit

“…So, +SA-seed can induce characteristics that are beneficial during water restriction conditions allowing the maintenance of a larger photosynthetic area and allocation of resources to the roots that assist in the absorption of water and nutrients (Jangid and Dwivedi 2017). A large number of works have indicated that SA enhances growth attributes -leaf area and dry matter production -in tomato when exposed to water stress (El-Hady et al 2021;Galviz-Fajardo et al 2020;Gharbi et al 2018;Lobato et al 2021). Effects on root growth must be carefully considered, Abbasi et al (2020) highlight that SA improved and kept the root system of cucumber plants, improving the absorption of nutrients, increasing the carbohydrate content of flowers and fruits, all this resulting in the increased number and size of fruits.…”

“…Although many studies report that SA has the ability to induce drought tolerance by increasing antioxidant activity (El-Hady et al 2021;Hayat et al 2008;Lobato et al 2021), many others also point out that it is not a general response (Bortolin et al 2020;El-Esawi et al 2017). Furthermore, Saruhan et al (2012) reported that this is a SA-induced mechanism of water stress tolerance, consequence of the ability of SA molecule to bind to CAT and to inhibit its activity while intensifying SOD activity (Razmi et al 2017;Galviz-Fajardo et al 2020) and finally results in enhanced H 2 O 2 levels as the ones observed in leaves and roots with +SA-seed.…”

Anti-Inflammatory, Antimicrobial, Antioxidant and Photoprotective Investigation of Red Propolis Extract as Sunscreen Formulation in Polawax Cream

“…Propolis has been used as a herbal medicine and several useful activities have been described for propolis, including antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and the protection of plants against abiotic stress [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. However, the location of the plant, bee species, seasonality, climatic differences and solvent extraction processes can affect the chemical composition and biological properties [ 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”