The invention discloses application of exogenous
melatonin to improvement of salt tolerance of
ricinus communis, and belongs to the technical field of
plant protection. Experiments prove that exogenous
melatonin pretreatment can effectively relieve damage of salt stress to
ricinus communis, and the content of
proline, soluble
sugar and soluble
protein is increased by improving the activity of
peroxidase,
ascorbic acid peroxidase and
superoxide dismutase in leaves; the net photosynthetic rate, the
stomatal conductance, the intercellular CO2 concentration, the
transpiration rate and the actual photochemical efficiency are remarkably increased, the decreasing amplitude of a non-photochemical
quenching coefficient is reduced, the photosynthetic structure is protected, and the photosynthetic rate is improved, so that the damage of the salt stress to the castor-oil plants can be effectively relieved by applying the
melatonin externally, and the salt tolerance of the plants is improved; the key growth problem caused by soil salinization of
ricinus communis is solved; in addition, no potential safety
hazard and risk of
mutation of
germplasm genes exist in the treatment process, the safety of prevention and control measures is greatly improved, and the method is a green, safe and environment-friendly method for relieving the harm of salt stress to the castor.