Fruit crop abiotic stress management: a comprehensive review of plant hormones mediated responses

Horticultural crop production is severely threatened by the changing global climate, as plants are vulnerable to a range of abiotic and biotic stresses. Abiotic stressors, such as floods, UV radiation, heat, drought, salt, and cold, often lead to crop damage and loss. However, plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms enabling them to respond effectively to stressful conditions, thereby enhancing their ability to overcome challenges. They have evolved complex systems that detect stress signals and enable optimum growth responses, thus enabling them to survive in harsh environments. Due to their potential to mitigate the adverse impacts of abiotic stress, phytohormones have garnered significant research attention in recent years. Current findings have highlighted the crucial role that diverse phytohormones play in strengthening horticulture plants resistant to abiotic stress. Furthermore, plant growth regulators that function similarly to phytohormones, such as melatonin, have also been proven to be effective methods for mitigating the adverse impacts of both biotic and abiotic stress on fruit crops. A comprehensive understanding of the complex hormonal interactions that occur in a range of horticultural crops when exposed to biotic stress is a crucial summary of the function of phytohormones like plant growth regulators in decreasing abiotic stress and their associated crosstalk in the growth and development of plants under repeated stressful situations. The primary objective of this investigation is to focus on the fundamental advancements in the abiotic stress tolerance of fruit crops through the utilization of a diverse array of hormones including gibberellin (GA), brassinosteroids (BRs), abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), strigolactones (SLs), jasmonates (JAs), and melatonin (MEL). The insights gained from this study have the potential to facilitate sustainable plant growth, as hormones play a critical role in enhancing the abiotic stress resilience of horticultural crops.