Abstract

Cereals and millets account for staple food of the major population of the world and any stress posed on them limits their productivity. Salt stress affects seed germination and results in poor grain quality and low production. To identify the best responding cereal against variable salinity regime, the present study was undertaken. The seeds were grown under salt stress of 0mM to 200mM and plantlets were excised on 15th day of the experiment for biochemical analysis. Salinity caused specific changes in the antioxidant potential of the plant as seen through Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Peroxidase (POX), Catalase (CAT) and Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzyme activities. The enzyme activities were calculated through multivariate analysis to ascertain the biochemical responses using Principal component analysis (PCA) and Linear discriminate analysis (LDA). A significant increase in the antioxidative enzyme activity was noted in Eleusine, suggesting that it is better suited to combat the oxidative stress injury amongst the three plants.

Key words: Antioxidants, LDA, PCA, ROS, Salinity