Figure 5.

Benzoic acid (BA) and its hydroxylated derivatives, ρ-hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA) and protocatechuic acid (PCA), improve the growth variables and enhance fruit yield and its components of Alternaria solani-infected tomato plants under greenhouse conditions. (A) Plant height (cm), (B) number of leaves plant⁻¹, (C) total area per leaf (cm²), (D) shoot fresh weight (g plant⁻¹), (E) shoot dry weight (g plant⁻¹), (F) number of flowers plant ⁻¹, (G) number of fruits plant ⁻¹, (H) fruit yield (Kg plant ⁻¹), and (I) fruit yield increase over control (%). Values represent the means ± standard deviation (means ± SD) of six biological replicates (n = 6). Different letters indicate statistically significant differences between treatments (p < 0.05). Mock: 0.2% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-treated (mock control), FC: difenoconazole-treated (fungicide), BA: benzoic acid-treated, HBA: ρ-hydroxybenzoic acid-treated, and PCA: protocatechuic acid-treated.