Título Padrão

Resumen

Salinity can negatively interfere with seed germination and seedling development; therefore, knowing the tolerance of plants to salinity and searching for alternatives that mitigate its adverse effects, such as the use of salicylic acid (SA), indicate ways for better plant development in environments affected by this stress. The objective of this work was to evaluate seed germination and seedling development of peppers of the species Capsicum chinense Jacquin varieties Biquinho and Bode in different saline concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl), using salicylic acid as a possible saline stress attenuator. The treatments were in a 5 x 2 factorial scheme, with five saline concentrations (0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 mM NaCl, respectively 0, 3.31; 5.71, 7.84, and 9.68 dS m-1) combined with the absence or presence of SA. It evaluated the number of normal and abnormal seedlings and seeds that did not germinate, the root and shoot length, and the total dry mass. It was concluded that salinity negatively interfered with both varieties' seed germination and seedling development. The 'Biquinho' pepper showed tolerance to salinity up to 30 mM NaCl, and the seedlings showed more extensive roots in the presence of SA up to 60 mM NaCl. The 'Bode' pepper was not tolerant to salinity during the process of seed germination and seedling development; SA was not effective in mitigating the negative effects of saline solutions; the percentage of germination and the average length of the aerial part of the seedlings were lower in the presence of SA.