Evaluating physiological responses of Butterfly pea, Clitoria ternatea L. var. Pleniflora to salt stress

Abstract

Nowadays, proportions of agriculture land had become saline. Many plants and herbs have evolved series of defences to mitigate against salinity. There were critical appraisal studies on salinity using the butterfly pea, Clitoria ternatea var Pleniflora that analysed their potential role as salt tolerant legume. However, study on the physiological responses of Clitoria ternatea is still lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to introduce and evaluate the growth traits of Clitoria ternatea var Plenifora with regards to the number of branches and leaves, plant's height, fresh and dry weight of plant parts (stem, leaves and roots) during the exposure to six different doses of NaCl (0, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 mM). In addition, controlled growth environment was watered daily with equal NaCl-supplemented distilled water. The results from this study had revealed that all of the test growth traits: the number of branches and leaves, height of plants, fresh weight of leaves and dry weight of stem, leaves and roots were the highest under 200 mM of NaCl. In conclusion, 200 mM of NaCl can improve the overall growth of Clitoria ternatea var Pleniflora.