Mitigation of Chilling Stress by Ozone Pretreatment and Acclimation of Sweet Pepper Grown under Unheated Greenhouse Conditions
Ozone is an important air pollutant that causes many challenges for human health, such as lung diseases. The negative impacts of exogenous ozone on cultivated plants have been discussed in several publications, but the positive impacts are less investigated. The current study is an attempt to answer...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Horticulturae |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/8/12/1189 |
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| author | Mohamed A. Sharaf-Eldin Abdelwahab A. Etman Ali Mahmoud Yassin Salah Elsayed Miklas Scholz Zaher Mundher Yaseen |
| author_facet | Mohamed A. Sharaf-Eldin Abdelwahab A. Etman Ali Mahmoud Yassin Salah Elsayed Miklas Scholz Zaher Mundher Yaseen |
| author_sort | Mohamed A. Sharaf-Eldin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ozone is an important air pollutant that causes many challenges for human health, such as lung diseases. The negative impacts of exogenous ozone on cultivated plants have been discussed in several publications, but the positive impacts are less investigated. The current study is an attempt to answer the following question: is there any positive contribution of ozone pretreatment in growing plants under stress? Plants grown in unheated plastic greenhouses suffer from cold stress during the winter when the temperature drops to 5–10 °C. This stress can also be enhanced under saline soil conditions in arid regions. Treatments involving different ozone application methods (seed priming and seedling foliar application) and cold pretreatment (4 °C for 36 h) were compared with untreated controls of two sweet pepper hybrids (Zidenka and Lirica) in an unheated plastic greenhouse. In general, the Lirica hybrid outperformed the Zidenka hybrid in growth and fruit yield and showed good adaptation to cold stress resulting from ozone treatment through foliar application on seedlings. Moreover, cold treatment was associated with higher values of the studied parameters compared to the control (untreated). A concentration of 20 ppm of ozone in the first season and as 30 ppm of ozone in the second season increased plant leaf area, proline content, and APX activity, all of which improved the plant’s defense mechanisms against cold stress. These benefits contributed to high fruit sets; early, total, and marketable fruit yields; and fruit quality under cold stress. The highest yield (16.52 kg m<sup>−2</sup>) was attained with 30 ppm ozone applied as a seedling spray, compared with 10.07 kg m<sup>−2</sup> in the control. Therefore, the foliar application of ozone up to 30 ppm can be recommended for sweet pepper hybrids of Lirica under unheated plastic greenhouse conditions. Further investigations are needed to study the interaction of combined ozone and cold stress, as well as various levels of soil salinity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:21:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5a3bf2fa40724bac9fbb63e0e0c5cf7a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2311-7524 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:21:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Horticulturae |
| spelling | doaj.art-5a3bf2fa40724bac9fbb63e0e0c5cf7a2023-11-24T15:16:09ZengMDPI AGHorticulturae2311-75242022-12-01812118910.3390/horticulturae8121189Mitigation of Chilling Stress by Ozone Pretreatment and Acclimation of Sweet Pepper Grown under Unheated Greenhouse ConditionsMohamed A. Sharaf-Eldin0Abdelwahab A. Etman1Ali Mahmoud Yassin2Salah Elsayed3Miklas Scholz4Zaher Mundher Yaseen5Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr Elsheikh 33516, EgyptHorticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr Elsheikh 33516, EgyptHorticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr Elsheikh 33516, EgyptAgricultural Engineering, Evaluation of Natural Resources Department, Environmental Studies and Research Institute, University of Sadat City, Minufiya 32897, EgyptDirectorate of Engineering the Future, School of Science, Engineering and Environment, the University of Salford, Newton Building, Greater Manchester M5 4WT, UKCivil and Environmental Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi ArabiaOzone is an important air pollutant that causes many challenges for human health, such as lung diseases. The negative impacts of exogenous ozone on cultivated plants have been discussed in several publications, but the positive impacts are less investigated. The current study is an attempt to answer the following question: is there any positive contribution of ozone pretreatment in growing plants under stress? Plants grown in unheated plastic greenhouses suffer from cold stress during the winter when the temperature drops to 5–10 °C. This stress can also be enhanced under saline soil conditions in arid regions. Treatments involving different ozone application methods (seed priming and seedling foliar application) and cold pretreatment (4 °C for 36 h) were compared with untreated controls of two sweet pepper hybrids (Zidenka and Lirica) in an unheated plastic greenhouse. In general, the Lirica hybrid outperformed the Zidenka hybrid in growth and fruit yield and showed good adaptation to cold stress resulting from ozone treatment through foliar application on seedlings. Moreover, cold treatment was associated with higher values of the studied parameters compared to the control (untreated). A concentration of 20 ppm of ozone in the first season and as 30 ppm of ozone in the second season increased plant leaf area, proline content, and APX activity, all of which improved the plant’s defense mechanisms against cold stress. These benefits contributed to high fruit sets; early, total, and marketable fruit yields; and fruit quality under cold stress. The highest yield (16.52 kg m<sup>−2</sup>) was attained with 30 ppm ozone applied as a seedling spray, compared with 10.07 kg m<sup>−2</sup> in the control. Therefore, the foliar application of ozone up to 30 ppm can be recommended for sweet pepper hybrids of Lirica under unheated plastic greenhouse conditions. Further investigations are needed to study the interaction of combined ozone and cold stress, as well as various levels of soil salinity.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/8/12/1189prolineascorbate peroxidasemembrane permeabilityyield and qualitycold pretreatment |
| spellingShingle | Mohamed A. Sharaf-Eldin Abdelwahab A. Etman Ali Mahmoud Yassin Salah Elsayed Miklas Scholz Zaher Mundher Yaseen Mitigation of Chilling Stress by Ozone Pretreatment and Acclimation of Sweet Pepper Grown under Unheated Greenhouse Conditions Horticulturae proline ascorbate peroxidase membrane permeability yield and quality cold pretreatment |
| title | Mitigation of Chilling Stress by Ozone Pretreatment and Acclimation of Sweet Pepper Grown under Unheated Greenhouse Conditions |
| title_full | Mitigation of Chilling Stress by Ozone Pretreatment and Acclimation of Sweet Pepper Grown under Unheated Greenhouse Conditions |
| title_fullStr | Mitigation of Chilling Stress by Ozone Pretreatment and Acclimation of Sweet Pepper Grown under Unheated Greenhouse Conditions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mitigation of Chilling Stress by Ozone Pretreatment and Acclimation of Sweet Pepper Grown under Unheated Greenhouse Conditions |
| title_short | Mitigation of Chilling Stress by Ozone Pretreatment and Acclimation of Sweet Pepper Grown under Unheated Greenhouse Conditions |
| title_sort | mitigation of chilling stress by ozone pretreatment and acclimation of sweet pepper grown under unheated greenhouse conditions |
| topic | proline ascorbate peroxidase membrane permeability yield and quality cold pretreatment |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/8/12/1189 |
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