Effects of Selenium Applications on Salt Stress in Sage and Mountain Tea

Abstract

Sage and mountain sage belong to Lamiaceae family which have commercial importance from medicinal and aromatic plants in Turkey. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different doses of selenium in salinity conditions on the morphological characteristics of sage (Salvia officinalis L.) and mountain tea (Sideritis sp.). Four different doses of selenium (5, 10, 20, 40 mg/l) were applied in without salinity (0) and salinity (250 mM NaCl/l) medium. The experiment was carried out in the split plot design with three replications in the climate chamber room of the department of field crops. When the examined properties were evaluated; plant height changed between 15.56-23.85 cm, number of branches 10.50-12.78 number/plant, number of leaves 52.78-92.00 number/plant, fresh leaf weight 2.48-7.51 g/plant, dry leaf weight 0.48-3.32 g/plant, fresh root weight 1.52-7.16 g/plant, dry root weight 0.19-1.24 g/plant, root length 26.18-36.07 cm, fresh shoot weight of 1.13-7.15 g/plant and dry shoot weight 0.13-0.38 g/plant. In mountain tea, the properties were determined for plant height as 3.26-5.93 cm, for number of branches as 2.50-6.33 number/plant, for number of leaves as 28.22-91.14 number/plant, for fresh and dry leaf weights as 2.42-11,03 and 0.45-1.91 g/plant, for fresh and dry root weights as 0.71-3.97 and 0.18-0.74 g/plant, for root length as 14.78-33.26 cm, for fresh and dry shoot weights as 0.29-2.28 and 0.12-0.41 g/plant were determined. As a result of this study, 5 mg/l selenium application in salinity conditions in both plants has reached high values in terms of fresh leaf weights. In addition to this, it was found that selenium applications in salinity conditions had positive effects on dry leaf weight in sage and fresh root and fresh shoot weights in mountain tea. As a result of correlation analysis, positive correlations were found between dry leaf weight and other characteristics especially in mountain tea in terms of traits examined in both plants.