Antioxidants response to salinity and ameliorating its effect by Nigella sativa

Salinity, a major stress in semiarid areas, caused significant decreases in growth (30%), photosynthetic pigments (45%) relative water content (RWC) (20%) and protein content (10%) of Vicia faba L. plants, while protein content, membrane permeability and activities of Catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) were increased significantly (P≥0.05). Treating seedlings with aqueous solution of Nigella sativa alleviated inhibitory effects of NaCl as it caused significant increases in growth and photosynthetic pigments as well as RWC. Antioxidant enzyme activities decreased with Nigella sativa. The results showed that Nigella sativa had antagonistic effect and could mitigate toxic effects of salinity on growth and physiology of plants. © 2014 AENSI Publisher All rights reserved.