Effect of salt stress on some phological and biochemical characteristics in Coriandrum sativum L.

In order to study the response of coriander medicinal plant to salt stress, two experiments were conducted for germination and vegetative stages. This study was carried out as a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications. The treatments were salinity at five concentrations including 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mM NaCl. Response of coriander seeds germination in first experiment and physiologic characteristics in second experiment were evaluated. Results showed that increase of salinity significantly decreased germination characteristics including germination percentage and rate, radicle and plumule length and dry weigtht (p≤ 0.01). With the increase of salinity, morphological traits like, number of leaves, root and shoot length, fresh and dry weight in shoot and root decreased. Effect of salt stress on amount of chlorophyll, proline, soluble carbohydrates and phenolic compounds was significant (p≤0.01). Mean comparison of treatments showed that with increasing salt stress, amount of proline, carbohydrates and phenolic compounds increased in shoot and root, while concentration of chlorophyll of leaves decreased. Our results support the idea that, accumulation of proline, soluble carbohydrates and phenolic compounds is associated with plant tolerance to salt stress.