ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Evaluation of Physio-Chemical Responses
in Banana Genotypes Under In vitro Salinity Stress
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1
National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology, NARC-45500, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan
2
Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3
Department of Horticulture, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
4
Center of Excellence in Biotechnology Research, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
5
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science,
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
6
Department of Agriculture, Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu Kashmir
Submission date: 2024-05-21
Final revision date: 2024-10-09
Acceptance date: 2025-03-25
Online publication date: 2025-07-01
Corresponding author
Kazim Ali
National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology, NARC-45500, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan
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ABSTRACT
Salinity is one of the most common abiotic stresses affecting banana growth and yields worldwide.
This study focused on investigating four banana varieties, NIGAB-2, Pisang, NIGAB-1, and
Grand Naine, which were propagated under in vitro salt stress conditions and assessed their yields.
These banana cultivars were micro-propagated on medium (1X MS medium, 30.0 g/l sucrose,
100 mg/l KH2PO4, 1 mg/l indole acetic acid (IAA), and 2.2 g/l gellen gum) and subjected to seven
distinct salt stress treatments, ranging from (0,10, 25, 40, 55, 70, 85, and 100 mM) NaCl. Among the
selected varieties, Grand Naine attained a plant height of 9.7 cm at 100 mM NaCl, followed by NIGAB-1
(8.6 cm), NIGAB-2 (5.4 cm), and Pisang (4.7 cm) in four weeks. Additionally, NIGAB-1 and Grand Naine
showed significant resistance to developing chlorophyll content under salinity stress, with NIGAB-1
exhibiting the highest fresh-weight plant biomass. The varieties demonstrated different responses to salt
stress in terms of root features and shoot growth. Furthermore, salt concentrations affected the levels
of secondary metabolites such as proline, total sugars, and protein content. NIGAB-1 had the highest
protein content, while Pisang had the highest total sugar content. The results of this study demonstrate
the variability in salt tolerance among the evaluated banana varieties, with NIGAB-1 exhibiting
the highest tolerance, followed by NIGAB-2 and Grand Naine, whereas Pisang is the least salt-tolerant
variety. Salt stress negatively affected banana growth, especially at concentrations exceeding 25 mM. These findings provide basic information for selecting banana varieties in future breeding programs
against salt stress.