The objectives of this study are summarized as follows:

1. 1. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of cold plasma seed treatment and plasma-activated water (PAW) in improving salinity tolerance in sweet pepper and to investigate their effects on plant growth and productivity, physiological and biochemical responses, antioxidant activity, in addition to the expression of selected salinity-responsive genes.

1. The dissertation presented a comprehensive investigation into the application of cold plasma and plasma-activated water for improving salinity tolerance in sweet pepper. The research comprised three main components: field experiments, in vitro tissue culture experiments, and molecular analysis using quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) to examine the expression of four salinity-related genes (CaDHN3, CaSOS1, CaPOD, and CaHSP18.1a), with the aim of evaluating the role of cold plasma and plasma-activated water in improving salinity tolerance.

1. The study demonstrated that cold plasma seed treatment significantly improved seed germination and enhanced sweet pepper tolerance to salinity stress, particularly at an exposure time of 180 seconds. The results further showed that combining plasma-treated seeds with plasma-activated water produced the greatest improvements in vegetative growth, productivity, chlorophyll content, nutrient uptake, antioxidant defence, and the expression of salinity-responsive genes. Finally, the findings indicate that cold plasma technology is a promising, environmentally friendly approach for improving the growth and productivity of sweet pepper undersaline conditions. Furthermore, the study recommended conducting future work to evaluate the application of cold plasma technology in other crop species and under different environmental stress conditions in both field and laboratory settings.

Excellent