Evaluation of interaction effect of drought stress with ascorbate and salicylic acid on the activity of some antioxidant enzymes and flavonoids in Hibiscus esculentus L.

Drought stress causes oxidative damages to the macromolecules, such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. Two of compounds which has antioxidative characteristic is Salicylic acid (SA) and ascorbic acid (As) can decrease drought effects in plants under stress. In recent research, we evaluated parameters such as; changes in activity of catalase and peroxidase and flavonoids in the Hibiscus esculentus L. under drought stress conditions. The results was showed that flavonoids and peroxidase activity increased compared to control under drought stress conditions. flavonoids and peroxidase activity decrease in plants were under Salicylic acid , ascorbic acid and both of them treatment. catalase activity in drought stress conditions decrease. catalase activity increased in plants were under Salicylic acid and ascorbic acid treatment. Based on our results, it seems that salicylic acid and ascorbic acid can regulate the amount of flavonoids and the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase and peroxidase in order to reduce the oxidative stress caused by drought. Therefore, the use of these compounds in drought conditions is recommended.