DOES H2O2 ATTENUATE SALT STRESS IN THE CULTIVATION OF YELLOW PASSION FRUIT?

The sour passion fruit is one of the most economically and socially important fruit crops in the Brazilian semi-arid region. Despite being a crop adapted to the soil and climate conditions of the Brazilian semi-arid region the occurrence of saline water is a limiting factor for the expansion of its cultivation. Thus technologies that minimize the deleterious effects of salt stress on the crop are extremely important such as the application of exogenous hydrogen peroxide. With this in mind the aim of this research was to evaluate the exogenous application of hydrogen peroxide as a mitigant of saline stress under the cultivation of sour passion fruit cv. BRS Rubi do Cerrado grown under different electrical conductivities of the irrigation water and the application of exogenous hydrogen peroxide.The potassium and sodium contents in the passion fruit leaf are higher with the application of the 45 μM concentration of hydrogen peroxide while in terms of production and post-harvest quality the 30 μM concentration reduces the effects of irrigation water salinity on the number of fruits and peel thickness and the 45 μM concentration promotes a higher pulp yield.