THE EFFECT OF NACL ON THE MINERAL NUTRIENT AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS PIGMENTS CONTENT IN PINEAPPLE (ANANAS COMOSUS) IN VITRO PLANTLETS

An experiment was conducted to determine the contents of K, Ca, P, Mg and Na, chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids in pineapple in vitro plantlets under salinity stress. The cultivars ‘N36’, ‘Morris’ and ‘Sarawak’ were cultured on MS medium containing 0, 34, 68, 103, 137, 171, 205 or 240 mM NaCl for four weeks. Increasing amounts of NaCl reduced the K, Ca, P and Mg content while Na increased in all pineapple cultivars. Levels of chlorophylls and carotenoids generally showed no change or increased with increasing NaCl to 68 mM and then decreased as NaCl levels continued to increase. Levels of chlorophylls and carotenoids were much higher in ‘N36’ than in the other two cultivars.