Does overhead irrigation with salt affect growth, yield, and phenolic content of lentil plants?

Abstract

Overhead irrigation of lentil plants with salt (100 mM NaCl) did not have any significant impact on plant growth, while chlorophyll content and chlorophyll fluorescence parameter F-v/F-m were affected. Under such poor irrigation water quality, the malondialdehyde content in leaves was increased due to the lipid peroxidation of membranes. In seeds, the total phenolic content (TPC) was correlated to their total antioxidant capacity (TAC). High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) detection showed that flavonoids (catechin, epicatechin, rutin, p-coumaric acid, quercetin, kaempferol, gallic acid and resveratrol) appear to be the compounds with the greatest influence on the TAC values. Catechin is the most abundant phenolic compound in lentil seeds. Overhead irrigation with salt reduced the concentration of almost all phenolic compounds analyzed from lentil seed extracts.