Protective role of salicylic acid against abiotic stresses in horticultural crops: A review

Environmental stressors such as drought, floods, salinity, extreme temperatures, and heavy metal toxicity are major threats to horticultural plants because they disrupt plant physiological mechanisms, leading to reduced yield and quality. Salicylic acid (SA) is a plant hormone that regulates various physiological and biochemical functions in plants. Moreover, it regulates hormonal balance, enhances the absorption of essential nutrients, promotes photosynthesis and the production of antistress compounds, and improves stress resistance. This comprehensive review explains several physiological and biochemical activities that are affected by SA under stressful conditions, such as stomatal regulation, antioxidant defense systems, osmotic adjustment and gene expression regulation. Altogether, this review highlights the potential of SA in managing plant adaptations to various abiotic stresses and sheds light on future SA-based approaches to enhance the resilience and yield of horticultural crops under stress conditions.