The present study reports the potential of flavonoid biosynthesis pathway intermediate metabolite naringin for salt-stress mitigation of radish (Raphanus sativus L.). We have earlier reported naringenin, another flavonoid intermediate metabolite, mediated enhanced growth and stress mitigation in mungbean. In the present study, 50, 100, and 150 mM NaCl exposure was noticed to significantly inhibit the shoot-root elongation, carbohydrate, and protein content in radish. The exposure of 0.8 and 1.0 mM naringin was observed to rescue the morphological and biochemical traits of salt-stressed radish significantly. Naringin supplementation evidently enhanced the antioxidant potential of NaCl-treated radish to regulate the H2O2 and MDA accumulation, thus mitigating oxidative stress. The present study, thus, for the first time documents the abiotic stress-tolerance potential of naringin. Further, naringin-mediated abiotic stress mitigating studies can be investigated to identify naringin as a potent alternative to chemical fertilizers.
Verma et al. (Wed,) studied this question.