Table 5.

Bilateral effect of zinc (Zn) levels with plant nutrients on defense-related enzymes in tomato plants inoculated with Alternaria solani (AS) after 15-D of transplantation

Parameters	Zinc dose (mg/kg)	−ve Control	+ ve Control AS	NPK+AS	Mg+AS	B+AS	Mean (F)
Superoxide dismutase activity (Units min/mg of protein)	0	0.32 i	0.48 gh	0.61 de	0.49 f–h	0.6 de	0.50 C
	2.5	0.42 hi	0.57 e–g	0.77 bc	0.59 d–e	0.68 cd	0.61 B
	5.0	0.48 gh	0.73 bc	0.91 a	0.69 b–d	0.79 b	0.72 A
	Mean (F)	0.41 D	0.59 C	0.76 A	0.59 C	0.69 B
Catalase activity (Units min/mg of protein)	0	8.25 h	10.79 fg	12.61 d–g	10.58 g	11.19 e–g	10.69 C
	2.5	10.74 fg	14.47 b–d	15.14 bc	11.27 e–g	12.97 c–f	12.29 B
	5.0	12.56 d–g	15.86 b	18.30 a	13.27 c–e	14.72 b–d	14.94 A
	Mean (F)	10.52 D	13.71 B	15.35 A	11.71 CD	12.96 BC
Peroxidase activity (Units min/mg of protein)	0	62 g	83 ef	92 de	70 fg	74 fg	76 C
	2.5	80 ef	110 c	130 b	97 c–e	107 cd	105 B
	5.0	85 ef	135 b	157 a	111 c	131 b	124 A
	Mean (F)	76 D	109 B	126 A	93 C	104 B
Polyphenol oxidase activity (Units min/mg of protein)	0	0.53 gh	0.68 e–g	0.71 ef	0.52 h	0.55 gh	0.60 C
	2.5	0.60 f–h	0.82 de	1.10 bc	0.97 cd	1.03 bc	0.90 B
	5.0	0.78 e	1.10 bc	1.26 a	1.03 bc	1.15 ab	1.06 A
	Mean (F)	0.64 C	0.87 B	1.02 A	0.84 B	0.91 B
Phenylalanine ammonia–lyase (Units min/mg of protein)	0	2.11 d–f	1.32 h	1.99 e–g	1.69 gh	1.87 fg	1.80 C
	2.5	2.32 b–e	1.89 fg	2.59 b	2.21 c–f	2.21 c–f	2.24 B
	5.0	2.52 bc	2.11 d–f	2.98 a	2.37 b–d	2.56 bc	2.51 A
	Mean (F)	2.32 AB	1.77 D	2.52 A	2.09 C	2.21 BC

Values with same lower case (rows) and upper case (rows and column) show the insignificant difference (P ≤ 0.05) as determined by LSD Test.