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.
1
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.
2
Acetylcholine treatment helped restore ionic homeostasis (Na⁺/K⁺ balance) and phytohormone levels disrupted by salinity, while reducing oxidative damage markers like hydrogen peroxide.
3
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.
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