Abstract
Salt stress results in physiological changes that inhibit plant growth and development. Ca-complex sources are used as a potential salt stress attenuator. This study was carried out with the aim of verifying the effects of Ca-complex sources in reducing the effects of saline water stress on the physiological aspects of sour passion fruit seedlings. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design with a 2 × 2 × 3 factorial scheme, consisting of two cultivars of sour passion fruit (BRS GA1 and BRS SC1), two levels of water salinity (electrical conductivity of 0.5 and 4.0 dS m(-1)) and three sources of Ca-complex (without, organic acids and amino acids). The traits measured at 60 days after sowing were gas exchange, chlorophyll indices, chlorophyll fluorescence, electrolyte leakage, and relative water content in the leaf limb. Under moderate water salinity, the application of Ca-complex in amino acids promoted increases of 49.84% and 43.71%, respectively, in the efficiency of water use and carboxylation. The application of complex sources increased the stability of cell membranes, reducing electrolyte leakage, providing higher relative water content in seedlings irrigated with moderately saline water. From the results, we conclude that Ca-complex sources have potential as modulators of moderately saline water stress in sour passion fruit seedlings.