Influence of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza on phytochemicals, productivity, and saline stress alleviation of moringa oleifera.

Abstract

Moringa oleifera Lam, valued for its medicinal properties, faces productivity challenges due to soil salinity caused by global warming. The objectives of the study were to: (1) determine the effect of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi on the growth of M. oleifera and saline stress alleviation (2) evaluating whether biosynthesis and accumulation of phytochemicals of M. oleifera will be influenced using VAM fungi in reducing salinity. The two objectives were separately undertaken at the University of Mpumalanga using four salinity levels (0, 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 dS m-1) of combined ratios of NaCl and CaCl2 (3:1) and four VAM (0, 10, 20, and 30 g) treatments arranged in a factorial experiment using a randomized complete block design under microplot and shadenet conditions in 2024. Results showed significant impacts of salinity (p≤0.05) on plant height, branches, chlorophyll, and stem diameter, with relative impacts (RI) ranging from 2.44% to 53.83%. VAM and salinity interaction notably improved plant height and chlorophyll concentration, enhancing soil organic matter, pH, and electrical conductivity. The results of the study indicate that the interaction of VAM and salinity treatments did have a significant effect (p≤0.05) on TFC and TPC in both experiments. Relative to the control the interaction of VAM and salinity treatments had increased the TFC in Experiment 1 with RI of 4.40 to 5.50 mg QE/g and in Experiment 2 with a RI of 5.00 to 6.10 mg QE/g. In both Experiment 1 and 2, relative to the control TPC was enhanced by the interaction of VAM and salinity treatments with RI of 21.00 to 39.68 mg QE/g and 15.00 to 41.71 mg QE/g, respectively. The findings underscore the importance of VAM in improving Moringa oleifera's productivity in saline environments.