2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum L.) is a medicinal and aromatic plant that is widely used around the world. However, little research has focused on cilantro’s responses to abiotic stress. Our objective was to quantify interactive effects of drought and salinity on growth, photosynthesis, and mineral content of cilantro. Plants were irrigated with water with four salinity levels (0, 50, 75, 100 mM NaCl) and exposed to three levels of drought (100% (control), 80% (mild drought) and 40% (severe drought) of the water required to reach container capacity). The study was conducted inside a greenhouse. The water content of the growing media was measured before each irrigation event (WET-2 sensor) and the applied water amounts were recorded to determine irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE, fresh weight/irrigation water use).

Increasing salinity levels reduced yield and decreased all gas exchange and vegetative growth parameters. Although the highest yield was obtained from the control treatment, the highest IWUE was found under severe combined stress conditions. Severe drought stress reduced yield by ~30% and 100 mM NaCl reduced yield by ~60% compared to the control treatment, while their combination decreased yield by ~70%. Drought and salinity treatments affected fresh weight more strongly than dry weight, suggesting that yield effects were partly due to differences in plant water content among treatments.