PubMed · 2026-04-12
Melatonin — yes, the same hormone that helps you sleep — can protect wax gourd plants from a common soil nutrient deficiency that causes leaves to yellow and yields to drop. When applied either before or after magnesium stress sets in, melatonin boosted the plant's ability to absorb magnesium, kept photosynthesis running efficiently, and dialed down cell damage.
Preventive melatonin treatment increased total magnesium content in wax gourd by 62.1% and boosted net photosynthetic rate by 61.0% compared to magnesium-deficient plants.
Both preventive and restorative melatonin applications reduced malondialdehyde (a marker of cell damage) by roughly 30–33%, indicating significantly lower oxidative stress.
Transcriptome analysis showed melatonin activated antioxidant and stress-response genes, with preventive treatment triggering earlier and stronger gene expression changes than restorative treatment.
