Biochemical responses of black pepper accessions to drought stress Prakash K.M.1, Joseph Jiji2,*, Santhoshkumar A.V.2 1Indian Institute of Spices ResearchKozhikode–673012, Kerala, India 2Kerala Agricultural UniversityThrissurKerala–680656, India *Corresponding author e-mail: jiji.joseph@kau.in
Online Published on 14 March, 2024. Abstract Twenty superior accessions of black pepper selected with high yield, field tolerance to pollu beetle and foot rot were evaluated under drought stress conditions in a controlled environment during December 2018. Black pepper variety Panniyur-5, reported to be drought tolerant, was used as the check variety. Observations on biochemical responses of accessions were recorded at field capacity, five and ten days after induction of drought stress. Under field capacity, accessions did not differ for biochemical parameters. During drought stress, enzyme proline increased continuously. Catalase, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase peaked at the beginning of stress and then decreased with continued stress. The accessions IC 598869 and IC 598890 ranked better than the drought tolerant variety P5 and took 20 days to wilt. These accessions and foot rot tolerant accession IC 598906 can be further tested for commercial release. Top Keywords Piper nigrum, Foot rot, Pollu beetle, Drought tolerance. Top |