444 Z. Mazur i in. Key words: germination, salt stress, sodium chloride Słowa kluczowe: kiełkowanie, stres solny, chlorek sodu Introduction The issue of soil salinity pertains to 7% of the surface of the Earth (Munns 2003), 30% of agricultural areas and ne- arly 27% of irrigated arable land (Tester and Davenport 2003). The continuous increase in saline areas is a result of na- tural processes as well as cause by anth- ropogenic factors. Sodium, calcium, and magnesium base salts as well as carbonic acid, hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid salts are mainly responsible for the pro- cess of salt accumulation in soil (Siyal et al. 2002). Soil with high concentra- tions of salt leads to, among others, pro- blems with plant mineral metabolism and osmotic stress. These in turn result in the partial or complete elimination of crop production in a given area (Wróbel et al. 2009). Lower crop yield and quality constitute a characteristic reaction with economic consequences of plant species used in agriculture to the increase in soil salinity (Matuszak et al. 2009). The in- creased content of Cl – and Na + ions in soil causes undesirable changes in the metabolism of ions, such as: K + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and NO 3 – , and consequently plays a part in altering the course of metabolic and enzymatic processes (Wrochna et al. Przegląd Naukowy – Inżynieria i Kształtowanie ĝrodowiska nr 62, 2013: 444–453 (Prz. Nauk. Inż. Kszt. ĝrod. 62, 2013) Scientific Review – Engineering and Environmental Sciences No 62, 2013: 444–453 (Sci. Rev. Eng. Env. Sci. 62, 2013) Zbigniew MAZUR 1 , Maja RADZIEMSKA 2 , Zofia TOMASZEWSKA 3 , Łukasz ĝWIĄTKOWSKI 1 1 Katedra Chemii ĝrodowiska, Uniwersytet WarmiĔsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie Department of Environmental Chemistry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn 2 Katedra Kształtowania ĝrodowiska, SGGW Department of Environmental Improvement, WULS – SGGW 3 Katedra Ogrodnictwa, Uniwersytet WarmiĔsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie Department of Agriculture, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn Wpływ chlorku sodu na zdolnoĞć kiełkowania nasion wybranych roĞlin warzywnych Effect of sodium chloride salinization on the seed germination of selected vegetable plants