| Summary: | Fruit tree culture is at the brink of disaster in arid to semi-arid regions due to low water availability. A pot experiment was carried out to analyze whether foliar application of salicylic acid (SA) can improve water stress tolerance in <i>Syzygium</i><i>cumini</i>. Saplings were subjected to control (CK, 90% of field capacity, FC), medium stress (MS, 60% of FC) and high stress (HS, 30% of FC) along with foliar application of 0.5 and 1.0 mM of SA. Results showed that soil water deficit significantly decreased leaf, stem and total dry weight, leaf gas exchange attributes and chlorophyll <i>a</i>, <i>b</i>. However, root dry weight and root/shoot ratio increased under MS and HS, respectively. Contrarily, foliar application of SA significantly improved chlorophyll <i>a</i>, <i>b</i>, leaf gas exchange attributes, and dry weight production under soil water deficit. Concentration of oxidants like hydrogen peroxide and superoxide radicals, along with malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage increased under soil water deficit; however, decreased in plants sprayed with SA due to the increase in the concentration of antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase. Results suggest that the foliar application of SA can help improve water stress tolerance in <i>Syzygium</i><i>cumini</i> saplings; however, validation of the results under field conditions is necessary.
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