Fig. 1

Peach seedling growth status and antioxidant ability under short-term drought stress. a Growth status of the peach seedlings. b Evans blue dyeing of the roots. c Evans blue dyeing of the leaves. The superoxide anion content d, superoxide dismutase activity e, peroxidase activity f and phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity g in roots. The water use efficiency h, changes in the quality percentage i, superoxide anion content j, superoxide dismutase activity k, peroxidase activity l and phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity m in leaves.CK: treatment with water; 10% PEG: treatment with 10% PEG; 10% PEG + Si: treatment with 10% PEG + 0.06 mmol/L Na₂SiO₃. The bars represent the means ± SEs from three replicates, and each replicate contained six seedlings. Bars with different letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05, Duncan’s multiple range tests)