Evaluation of the effect of folic acid and melatonin on morpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics of Camarosa strawberry cultivar under water stress

To evaluate the effect of folvic acid and melatonin on some morpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics of strawberry cultivar Kamarosa under water stress, in the laboratories of the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Mohaghegh Ardabili University, during one year (2020), a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications. Experimental factors include three levels of irrigation (100%, 50% and 25% field capacity), folvic acid foliar application at three levels (control (zero concentration), 200 and 400 mg) and melatonin foliar application at three levels (control (Concentrations were zero), 75 and 150 μM, respectively). Results showed that foliar application of folvic acid and melatonin significantly increased chlorophyll, carotenoid, DPPH, proline, phenol, flavonoid and soluble protein and decreased MDA under drought stress conditions. Generally, the greatest improvement in measured parameters under drought stress conditions was obtained by treating plants with 200 mg folvic acid and 150 μM melatonin, which significantly increased drought tolerance in strawberry plants.