Protective Activity of Humic Substances in Wheat Seedlings in Water Deficit Conditions

We conducted a comparative evaluation of the protective effect of humic substances (HSs) derived from coal and peat in seedlings of soft wheat Triticum aestivum L. in water deficit conditions caused by a PEG-6000 hyperosmotic solution. The protective effect of HSs was found to increase with an increase in the content of phenolic fragments. This finding may indicate that the antioxidant activity of HS was the main protective activity mechanism of HS in water deficit conditions.