Effects of Potassium Nitrate Containing Priming on Germination of Tomato (Lycopersicon Lycopersicum L.) Seeds Under Salt Stress

Year 2025, Volume: 12 Issue: 4, 971 - 978, 17.10.2025

Aygül Karaca

https://doi.org/10.30910/turkjans.1740141

Abstract

In this study, the effects of potassium nitrate (KNO₃) treatments on germination percentage, mean germination time, germination uniformity, root length and vigor index of tomato seeds were investigated under different salt concentrations. In the study, four different salt concentrations (0, 75, 100, and 125 mM NaCl) and five different KNO₃ treatments (dry seed, distilled water [0 mM], 0.5, 1, and 2 mM KNO₃) were applied. According to the results, KNO3 treatments increased the germination percentage and shortened the germination time. The highest germination percentage (FGP) was observed in the combination of 0 mM NaCl and 1 mM KNO3 (84.0%) and the lowest in the combination of 125 mM NaCl dry seed and 0 mM KNO3 (29.3% and 32.0%). In terms of germination time (MGT), the shortest time was observed in 0 mM NaCl 1 mM KNO3 (4.79 days) and the longest time was observed in 125 mM NaCl dry seed and 0 mM KNO3 (11.85 and 11.83 days, respectively). While increasing salt concentration negatively affected the germination performance, KNO3 treatments alleviated these effects. The positive effect of KNO3 treatments was also observed in germination uniformity (G10-90), root length (RL) and vigor index parameters. In general, 1 mM KNO3 treatments gave the most successful results. KNO3 treatments were observed to support seed metabolism and improve germination under stress conditions through the effect of osmotic priming. These findings emphasize the positive effects of KNO3 applications on seed germination and support their potential use in agricultural applications.

Keywords

Tomato , germination , salt concentrations (NaCl) , priming , potassium nitrate (KNO3)

References

• Al-Ansari, F., & Ksiksi, T. (2016). A quantitative assessment of germination parameters: the case of Crotalaria persica and Tephrosia apollinea. The Open Ecology Journal, 9(1), 13-21.
• Ali, A.V., Souza Machado, V. & Hamill, A.S. (1990). Osmoconditioning of tomato and onion seeds. Scientia Horticulturae, 43, 213-224.
• Al-Karaki, G.N.(1998). Response of wheat and barley during germination to seed osmopriming at different water potential. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 181, 229-235.
• Anonim, 2023. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL (Accessed date: 09.07.2025)
• Atar, B., & Güloğlu, D. (2024). Potasyum Nitrat İçerikli Priming Uygulamasının Tuzlu Ortamlarda Korunga (Onobrychis sativa L.) Çimlenmesine Etkileri. Uluslararası Tarım ve Yaban Hayatı Bilimleri Dergisi, 10(1), 144-155.
• Bahçeci, V. (2022) . Roka (Eruca sativa Mill.) Mikro filizi yetiştiriciliğinde farklı prımıng uygulamalarının çimlenme, fiziksel kalite ve verime etkisinin araştırılması. Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı, Van.
• Barbosa, W.F.S., Steiner, F., Oliveira, L.C.M., Henrique, P. & das Chagas, M. (2016). Comparison of seed priming techniques with regards to germination and growth of watermelon seedlings in laboratory condition. African Journal of Biotechnoogy, 15, 2596-2602.
• Cantürk, A. (2023). Fotoperiyot, Potasyum Nitrat ve Giberellik Asidin Lavanta (Lavandula Angustifolia) Tohumlarında Dormansinin Kırılması ve Çimlenme Üzerine Etkisi (Master's thesis, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü).
• Demir, I., S., Ellialtıoğlu, R., Tıpırdamaz, L., 1994. The effect of different priming treatments on repairability of aged eggplant seeds. Acta Horticulturae, 362, 205–212.
• Duman, İ. (2002). Soğan (Allium cepa L.) tohumlarının çimlenmesini iyileştirici farklı osmotik uygulama yöntemlerinin karşılaştırılması. Ege Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi, 39(2), 1–8, İzmir.
• Duman, İ., Eser, B., & Tozan, M. (2007). Soğan tohumlarında ozmotik koşullandırma amacı ile kullanılan havalandırılmış kolon tekniğinin ticari boyutlarda geliştirilmesi. Ege Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi, 44(1), 1-14.
• Duman, İ., Gökçöl, A. (2017). Biber (Capsicum annuum L.) ve patlıcan (Solanum melongena L.) tohumlarının fidelik performanslarının iyileştirilmesi. Ege Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi, 54(3), 333–340.
• Ekren, S. & Güngör, M. (2020). Tütün tohumuna uygulanan bazı iyileştirici ön uygulamaların çimlenme ve fide çıkış performansına etkisi. Avrupa Bilim ve Teknoloji Dergisi, 18, 591-598.
• Elkoca, E., Haliloğlu, K., Eşitken, A., Ercişli, S. (2007). Hydro- and osmopriming improve chickpea germination. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B, Plant and Soil Science, 57(3),193-200.
• El-Maarouf-Bouteau, H. (2022). The seed and the metabolism regulation. Biology, 11(2), 168.
• Ertem, M., & Adak, S. (2021). Endemik Verbascum linearilobum türünde Gibberellik asit ve Potasyum Nitrat’ın Çimlenme ve Canlılık Üzerine Etkisi. Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi, 36(1), 173-195.
• Farooq, M., Basra, S.M.A., Ahmad, N., Hafeez, K. (2005).Thermal Hardening: A new seed vigor enhancement tool in rice. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 47,187-193
• Farooq, M., Basra, S. M. A., Rehman, H., Ahmad, N. & Saleem, B.A. (2007). Osmopriming improves the germination and early seedling growth of melons (Cucumis melo L.). Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 44, 529-536.
• Giri, B., Giang, P. H., Kumari, R., Prasad, R., & Varma, A. (2005). Microbial diversity in soils. Microorganisms in soils: roles in genesis and functions, 19-55.
• Korkmaz, A., Ozbay, N., Tiryaki, I., & Nas, M. N. (2005). Combining priming and plant growth regulators improves muskmelon germination and emergence at low temperatures. European Journal of Horticultural Science, 70(1), 29-34.
• McDonald, M.B. (1999). Seed deterioration: physiology, repair and assessment. Seed Science and Technology, 27(1), 177-237.
• Nasri, N., Kaddour, R., Mahmoudi, H., Baatour, O., Bouraoui, N. & Lachaâl, M. (2011). The effect of osmopriming on germination, seedling growth and phosphatase activities of lettuce under saline condition. African Journal of Biotechnology, 10, 14366-14372.
• Olmez, Z., Yahyaoglu, Z. & Ucler, A. O. (2004). Effects of H2SO4, KNO3 and GA3 treatments on germination of caper (Capparis ovate Desf.) seeds. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, 7(6), 879-882.
• Orhan, Y. (2013). Ekim öncesi uygulamaların ıspanak tohumlarının çimlenme ve çıkış oranı üzerine etkileri. Yüksek Lisans, Tezi, Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Bahçe Bitkileri Ana Bilim Dalı, Isparta.
• Oliveira, C. E. S. & Steiner, F. (2017). Potassium nitrate priming to mitigate the salt stress on cucumber seedlings. Scientia Agraria Paranaensis, 16, 454-462.
• Oliveira, C. E. S., Steiner, F., Zuffo, A. M., Zoz, T., Alves, C. Z. & Aguiar, V. C. B. (2019). Seed priming improves the germination and growth rate of melon seedlings under saline stress. Cienc Rural, 49, 20180588.
• Ozbay, N. (2018). Studies on seed priming in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). In Advances in seed priming (pp. 209-239). Singapore: Springer Singapore.
• Ozbay, N. Ali, S.S. (2019). Seed Treatments to Improve Germination and Emergence of Muskmelon at Suboptimal Temperatures. Asian Journal of Biological Sciences, 12, 462-469.
• Ozbay, N. and Muhamed, M.J. (2020). Ameliorative effects of some priming treatments on germination and emergence of lettuce seeds under high temperature conditions. Acta Horticulturae, 1273, 409-416.
• Öner, F., & Kırlı, A. (2018). Effects of salt stress on germination and seedling growth of different bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars. Akademik Ziraat Dergisi, 7(2), 191-196.
• Öner, F., & Soysal, A. Ö. (2020). Determination of germination and seedling growth parameters of rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties under stress conditions. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 12(3), 693-701.
• Öner, F., Özkorkmaz, F., & Yılmaz, N. (2018). Tuz stresi altında gibberellik asit uygulamalarının yulafta bazı çimlenme parametreleri üzerine etkisi. International Journal of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, 1(1), 33-35.
• Özkorkmaz, F., Yılmaz, N., & Öner, F. (2020). Researching germination properties of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) under polyethylene glycol osmotic stress and saline conditions. Akademik Ziraat Dergisi, 9(2), 251-258.
• Özkorkmaz, F., & Öner, F. (2022). Potasyum nitratın (KNO3) tuz stresi altındaki mısır (Zea mays indentata L.) bitkisinde çimlenme özellikleri Üzerine Etkileri. ISPEC Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 6(4), 806-815.
• Pill, W.G. (1995). Low water potential and pre-sowing germination treatments to improve seed quality. Seed Quality. Editör: Basra, A. S. New York: Food Products Press.
• Puppala, N., James, L. & Fowler, L. J. (2002). Lesquerella seed pretreatment to improve germination. Industrial Crops and Products, 17(1), 61-69.
• Shaykhi, A. H., Nassiry, B. M. & Kachouei, M. A. (2015). Effect of some treatments on seed dormancy, germination and antioxidant enzymes of kelussia odoratissima mozaff. seeds. Cercetari Agronomice in Moldova, XLVIII 2 (162), 79-90.
• Tu, Y., Jiang, A., Gan, L., Hossain, M., Zhang, J., Peng, B., Xiong, Y., Song, Z., Cai, D., Xu, W., Zhang, J. and He, Y. Genome duplication improves rice root resistance to salt stress. Rice, 7:15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12284-014-0015-4
• Souza, M. O., Pelacani, C. R., Willems, L. A. J., Castro, R. D., Hilhorst, H. W. M. & Ligterink, W. (2016). Effect of osmopriming on germination and initial growth of Physalis angulata L. under salt stress and on expression of associated genes. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 88, 503-516.
• Sivritepe, N. (2008). Organic priming with seaweed extract (Ascophyllum nodosum) affects viability of pepper seeds. Asian Journal of Chemistry, 20(7), 5689.
• Sharma, A. D., Rathore, S. V. S., Srinivasan, K. & Tyagi, R. K. (2014). Comparison of various seed priming methods for seed germination, seedling vigour and fruit yield in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench). Scientia Horticulturae, 165, 75-81.
• Şeniz, V. (1992). Domates, biber ve patlıcan yetiştiriciliği. Tarımsal Araştırmaları Destekleme ve Geliştirme Vakfı, İstanbul.
• Tian, Y., Gama-Arachchige, N. S. & Zhao, M. (2023). Trends in Seed Priming Research in the Past 30 Years Based on Bibliometric Analysis. Plants, 12(19), 3483.
• Yang, Y. and Guo, Y. 2018. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms mediating plant salt-stress responses. New Phytologist, 217, 523-539. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14920