Influence of water availability and soil acidity on the level of free proline in pigeon pea

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of water availability and soil acidity on the levels of free proline, in shoots of the pigeon pea cultivars IAPAR 43-Aratã and IAC Fava Larga. A completely randomized design, in a factorial scheme 2x3x4 (two cultivars, two levels of water availability, four pH levels), with four replicates was used. Under severe water restriction, the cultivar IAC Fava Larga can be considered more tolerant, because of its higher accumulation of free proline. The presence of aluminium, associated to severe water restriction, showed a synergistic effect on the levels of free proline.