Influence of Garlic Extract On Enzymatic and Non Enzymatic Antioxidants in Soybean Plants (Glycine Max) Grown under Drought Stress

Drought is an important environmental constraint limiting the productivity of many crops worldwide. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of foliar spray of natural extract (garlic extract) on drought stress in two cultivars of soybean (Glycine max) plants. Drought stress caused significant decrease in growth parameters (shoot and root length, area of leaves, fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots) and photosynthetic pigments (chl a, chl b, carotenoids and total pigments). On the other hand, drought stress caused significant increase in non enzymatic antioxidants (ascorbic acid, tocopherol and reduced glutathione), enzymatic antioxidants (glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase and ascrobate peroxidase), oxidative damage (H2O2 content and lipid peroxidation) and osmolytes compounds (proline, total soluble sugars and total phenols) in shoots of the two cultivars of soybean plants (Giza 22 and 111). Moreover, foliar spray with two concentrations of garlic extract (400 and 600 ppm) enhanced all the above parameters that of the control plants and drought stressed plants. Electrophoretic studies of peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase isoenzymes showed wide variations in their intensities and densities among all treatments. It seems that garlic extract was able to enhance the tolerance of the studied plant to drought stress. [Mohamed HI, Akladious SA. Influence of Garlic Extract On Enzymatic and Non Enzymatic Antioxidants in Soybean Plants (Glycine Max) Grown under Drought Stress. Life Sci J 2014;11(3s):46-58]. (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 9