PubMed · 2026-05-28
Treating pepper plants with acetylcholine—a chemical best known as a brain neurotransmitter—before exposing them to salty soil significantly reduced the damage from salt stress, improving growth, water retention, hormone balance, and antioxidant defenses.
Pepper plants pre-treated with 50–100 µM acetylcholine before 150 mM NaCl salt stress showed significantly improved leaf relative water content and reduced growth inhibition compared to untreated plants.
Acetylcholine treatment helped restore ionic homeostasis (Na⁺/K⁺ balance) and phytohormone levels disrupted by salinity, while reducing oxidative damage markers like hydrogen peroxide.
Salt-stressed plants treated with acetylcholine showed elevated proline and sucrose accumulation—natural osmoprotectants—alongside enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity and favorable shifts in stress-related gene expression.