Effect of exogenous ascorbic acid on NaF- induced toxicity of green amaranth

Abstract

A pot experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of exogenous ascorbic acid (AsA) on sodium fluoride (NaF) induced toxicity of green amaranth. Thirty six (36) pots were divided into nine group‘s for nine different treatments viz. T0: No NaF and AsA, T1: No NaF + 0.5 mM AsA, T2: No NaF + 1.0 mM AsA, T3: 50 mM NaF + 0.5 mM AsA, T4: 50 mM NaF + 1.0 mM AsA, T5: 100 mM NaF + 0.5 mM AsA, T6: 100 mM NaF + 1.0 mM AsA, T7: 150 mM NaF + 0.5 mM AsA, T8: 150 mM NaF + 1.0 mM AsA in complete randomized design with four (4) replications, each of which contain ten (10) plants. At the end of the study root length, shoot length, dry weight and biochemical parameters like catalase activity and proline content were determined. It was found that root length, shoot length, dry weight decreased with increasing NaF concentration. Interestingly, root, shoot length, and catalase activity and proline content were alleviated by the application of ascorbic acid significantly ( 0.05). Intriguingly, 1 mM AsA was more effective in reducing the NaF stress in green amaranth. However, exogenous application of AsA on plants grown under NaF contaminated conditions improved the plant growth by increasing the antioxidant enzymes activity and proline content. Thus, it may be concluded that AsA mitigate the NaF toxicity in crop plants