Salt Resistance of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) Cultivars Produced in Benin at Germination Stage

Aims: In this research study, salt resistance level of seven tomato cultivars grown in Benin, namely Akikon, Tounvi; F1 Mongal, Petomech, Padma, TLCV 15 and Thorgal was evaluated at the germination stage. Study Design: The experiment was laid out as a completely randomized design with four replications. Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was carried out in the Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Abiotic Stresses Study of University of Abomey-Calavi, Republic of Benin from May to June, 2017. Methodology: Seeds were submitted to treatment with four NaCl concentrations (0; 30; 60 and 90 mM NaCl) in Petri dishes. Seed germination was checked every day during ten days incubation period. Four replicates of 40 seeds each were used. Results: NaCl reduced seed germination rate in all cultivars from day 2 to day 10 and the germination index proportionately to NaCl concentration. At the end of the 10 days, salt stress reduced the final germination percentages with a significant difference among cultivars: cultivars F1 Mongal followed by Akikon, Thorgal, TLCV15 and Tounvi were less affected in comparison with the two other cultivars. Salt Tolerance Index was significantly variable according to the cultivar with the highest values for cultivars F1 Mongal (1.086), Akikon (1.028), TLCV15 (1.005) and Tounvi (0.989) and the weakest value for cultivar Petomech (0.436). Conclusion: NaCl stress delayed seed germination and reduced the rate of final germination. Salt Tolerance Index was variable among the seven cultivars. Based on this criterion, cultivars F1 Mongal, Akikon, TLCV15 and Tounvi were the most salt-resistant whereas Petomech was the most salt-sensitive at germination stage.