Humic acid and grafting as sustainable agronomic practices for increased growth and secondary metabolism in cucumber subjected to salt stress

Abstract Salinity stress poses a significant treat to crop yields and product quality worldwide. Application of a humic acid bio stimulant and grafting onto tolerant rootstocks can both be considered sustainable agronomic practices that can effectively ameliorate the negative effects of salinity stress. This study aimed to assess the above mentioned ameliorative effects of both practices on cucumber plants subjected to saline environments. To attain this goal a factorial experiment was carried out in the form of a completely randomized design with three replications. The three factors considered were (a) three different salinity levels (0, 5, and 10 dS m −1 of NaCl), (b) foliar application of humic acid at three levels (0, 100, and 200 mg L −1 ), and (c) both grafted and ungrafted plants. Vegetative traits including plant height, fresh and dry weight and number of leaf exhibited a significant decrease under increasing salinity stress. However, the application of humic acid at both levels mitigated these effects compared to control plants. The reduction in relative water content (RWC) of the leaf caused by salinity, was compensated by the application of humic acid and grafting. Thus, the highest RWC (86.65%) was observed in grafting plants with 0 dS m −1 of NaCl and 20 mg L −1 of humic acid. Electrolyte leakage (EL) increased under salinity stress, but the application of humic acid and grafting improved this trait and the lowest amount of EL (26.95%) was in grafting plants with 0 dS m −1 of NaCl and 20 mg L −1 of humic acid. The highest amount of catalase (0.53 mmol H 2 O 2 g −1 fw min −1 ) and peroxidase (12.290 mmol H 2 O 2 g −1 fw min −1 ) enzymes were observed in the treatment of 10 dS m −1 of NaCl and 200 mg L −1 humic acid. The highest amount of total phenol (1.99 mg g −1 FW), total flavonoid (0.486 mg g −1 FW), total soluble carbohydrate (30.80 mg g −1 FW), soluble protein (34.56 mg g −1 FW), proline (3.86 µg g −1 FW) was in grafting plants with 0 dS m −1 of NaCl and 200 mg L −1 of humic acid. Phenolic acids and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes increased with increasing salinity and humic acid levels. Contrary to humic acid, salt stress increased the sodium (Na + ) and chlorine (Cl − ) and decreased the amount of potassium (K + ) and calcium (Ca 2+ ) in the root and leaf of ungrafted cucumber. However, the application 200 mg L −1 humic acid appeared to mitigate these effects, thereby suggesting a potential role in moderating physiological processes and improving growth of cucumber plants subjected to salinity stress. According to the obtained results, spraying of humic acid (200 mg L −1 ) and the use of salt resistant rootstocks are recommended to increase tolerance to salt stress in cucumber. These results, for the first time, clearly demonstrated that fig leaf gourd a new highly salt-tolerant rootstock, enhances salt tolerance and improves yield and quality of grafted cucumber plants by reducing sodium transport to the shoot and increasing the amount of compatible osmolytes.