Identification of Salt Tolerant Genotypes Based on Physiological and Nutritional Traits of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

A pot experiment was conducted to observe the performances of fifteen tomato genotypes under three different salinity treatments in the net house of Genetics and Plant Breeding Department of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during November 2013 to March 2014. Two factorial experiment included fifteen tomato genotypes viz. G1 (BD-7289), G2 (BD-7291), G3 (BD-7298), G4 (BD-7748), G5 (BD-7757), G6 (BD-7760), G7 (BD-7761), G8 (BD-7762), G9 (BD-9011), G10 (BD-9960), G11 (BARI Tomato-2), G12 (BARI Tomato-3), G13 (BARI Tomato-11), G14 (BARI Hybrid Tomato-4), G15 (BARI Hybrid Tomato-5) and three salinity treatments T1 (Control), T2 (8 dS/m), T3 (12 dS/m) were outlined in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Seedlings of 30 days were transplanted to main plastic pots, and two salinity treatments 8 dS/m and 12 dS/m were applied after 7 days of transplanting. The results displayed that tomato genotypes and salinity treatments both significantly different from the physiological and nutritional traits of the tomato plant. Nearly all traits responded negatively as the salinity level increased except Na+ content, brix (%) and vitamin-C content. Lycopene content increased in genotype G13 and G11 from slightly saline to moderate saline soil respectively. Brix (%) increased and was maximum in G10 genotype, and vitamin-C content was the highest in genotype G14 at moderate salinity. Therefore, genotype G14 and G11 could be recommended for high vitamin-C and lycopene content to the farmers for cultivation under slightly saline to moderate saline soil in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. These genotypes could also be served as parent material for future hybridization or genetic transformation program.