Background: In dry and semi-arid areas, salinity is the most serious hazard to agriculture, which can affect plant growth and development adversely. Over-accumulation of Na⁺in plant organs can cause an osmotic effect and an imbalance in nutrient uptake. However, its harmful impact can vary depending on genotype, period of exposure to stress, plant development stage, and concentration and content of salt. To overcome the unfavorable effect of salinity, plants have developed two kinds of tolerance strategies based on either minimizing the entrance of salts by the roots or administering their concentration and diffusion.Results: Having sufficient knowledge of Na⁺accumulation mechanisms and an understanding of the function of genes involved in transport activity will present a new option to enhance the salinity tolerance of vegetables related to food security in arid regions. Considerable improvements in tolerance mechanisms can be employed for breeding vegetables with boosted yield performance under salt stress. A conventional breeding method demands exhaustive research work in crops, while new techniques of molecular breeding, such as cutting-edge molecular tools and CRISPR technology are now available in economically important vegetables and give a fair chance for the development of genetically modified organisms.Conclusions: Therefore, this review highlights the molecular mechanisms of salinity tolerance, various molecular methods of breeding, and many sources of genetic variation for inducing tolerance to salinity stress.

Drying is a critical post-harvest process for medicinal plants, which are typically high in moisture and microorganisms. To prevent spoilage and quality loss, it is essential to dry these plants promptly. The drying method significantly impacts the levels of secondary metabolites and the organoleptic characteristics of medicinal plants. This study aimed to investigate the effects of various drying methods on the total phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, antioxidant activity, and phenolic acids in caper (Capparis spinosa L.) fruits. The experiment was performed using a completely randomized design with three replications and included 11 treatments: shade drying, sun drying, oven drying (at 50 °C, 60 °C, and 70 °C), microwave drying (at 300 W, 600 W, and 900 W), freeze-drying, salt-drying, and a fresh plant sample as a control. Among the drying methods tested, microwave drying consistently produced the highest levels of flavonoids, anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity, regardless of wattage. Specifically, the highest total phenol content was observed in samples dried at 900 W microwave, 600 W microwave, and 70 °C in the oven (5.3, 5.37, and 5.31 mg GAE/g DW, respectively). Drying at 600 W microwave yielded the highest levels of caffeic, cinnamic, ferulic, vanillic, and protocatechuic acids (13.03, 3.85, 4.28, 9.73, and 5.6 µg/g, respectively) while drying at 900 W microwave also resulted in elevated levels of caffeic, ferulic, protocatechuic, and p-coumaric acids. The 70 °C oven drying method also showed high levels of caffeic, cinnamic, ferulic, vanillic, and protocatechuic acids. Freeze-drying achieved the highest levels of rosmarinic, gallic, and m-coumaric acids (320.17, 175.3, and 12.99 µg/g, respectively), while shade drying produced high levels of p-hydroxybenzoic, cinnamic, ferulic, m-coumaric, protocatechuic, and p-coumaric acids. Overall, microwave drying (especially at 600 W), oven drying at 70 °C, and freeze-drying emerged as effective alternatives to traditional drying methods. These methods not only preserved the color, texture, and taste of the fruits but also enhanced their bioactive compound levels.