Cytokinins are regarded as plant growth hormone which also alleviate abiotic stresses in plants. In this regard, we aerially sprayed the 8 days old seedlings of Zea mays prior stressed with NaCl, the growth of the seedlings was improved. The growth parameters included root length, shoot length, fresh weight and leaf area. We observed higher root length, shoot length, fresh weight and leaf area ratio after CK treatment compared to the seedlings stressed with NaCl only. We also assessed the biochemical profile of the seedlings in terms of the osmolytes also referred as secondary metabolites (total flavonoids, phenolic and proline). Interestingly, the CK treatment induced the higher production of Secondary metabolites in the seedlings compared to stress conditions. Thus the relative water content of the seedlings were also high after the CK treatment. Additionally, the prior stressed seedlings treated with CK also had higher level of IAA which worked synergistically with CK to produce higher enzymatic activity such as Catalase. Comparatively, the seedlings stressed with NaCl only had lower IAA level and thus the catalase activity was lowered. Thus, it was evaluated that CK treatment alleviates salinity stress through production of Secondary metabolites.

Keywords: Cytokinins, Secondary metabolites, Growth Parameters, Catalase activity