Application of phytohormones reduces damage caused by salt stress in Tropaeolum majus

Salt stress constitutes a significant challenge in contemporary agriculture, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. The utilization of cytokinins, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid has been employed as a strategy to mitigate the damage induced by this stress in horticultural crops. Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus L.) is an edible flower native to South America and cultivated throughout the world. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of the application of salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and cytokinin on chlorophyll fluorescence, gas exchange, and dry mass of nasturtium grown under salt stress. Salt stress promoted damage to the photosynthetic apparatus, which caused a decrease in gas exchange and, consequently, in the phytomass of nasturtium plants. The application of phytohormones mitigated damage to the photosynthetic apparatus and gas exchange. As a result, plant growth (phytomass) was less affected by stress when cytokinin and salicylic acid were administered. Therefore, these phytohormones may serve as a viable strategy to ameliorate the damage caused by salt stress in nasturtium.