Tolerance of Moringa oleifera to stress

Abstract

Moringa oleifera (Lam) is a fast growing tree that is gradually getting more attention for it numerous uses. It is often called "natural gift" or "miracle tree" because of its many nutritional, forage, medicinal and industrial potentialities. Moringa oleifera appears to be a promising multipurpose species for use under a changing climate. To test possible adaptation potential and / or tolerance of Moringa oleifera to water stress, an experiment was conducted under semi controlled conditions. Stress was induced in the semi-controlled experiment by the application of different concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000), to cause different levels of water potential stress for twenty days. The effect of water stress to plant growth was evaluated based on stem length and main root relative growth rate, leaf area, and chlorophyll (a and b) and carotenoid compared to controls. Based on the results water stress caused significant variations in growth and growth delays in length, imposed at all Ѱh > -1.5 MPa. This water potential was also critical for leaf area mass. Water stress resulted to a 70% gain in chlorophylls b, 44% losses in chlorophyll a and 45% in carotenoids. These results testify the tolerance ability of Moringa oleifera plants to water stress.