Morphological-physiological and biochemical responses of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) to salt stress

Abstract Salinity is a limited factor affecting agricultural production on a global scale, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. It is estimated that more than 800 million hectares of land in the world are affected by salinity. In Morocco, a large part of agricultural regions are affected by the soil salinization process. Currently, nearly 5% of the land is already affected by salinization at different levels. In the context of exploring the effect of salinity on the physiological, morphological and biochemical behavior of the plant, we are interested in Rosmarinus officinalis in view of its medicinal, aromatic and socio-economic interests in order to evaluate his tolerance to salts by applying four saline treatments: 0; 2; 5 and 8 g / l of NaCl. The tolerance of Rosemary to salt stress was discussed in this study and showed that this specie is relatively tolerant to salt stress at moderate doses, but also the addition of salts at high concentrations may affect delicate balance between production and exclusion of salts.