## 4 Discussion
GB, on the other hand, presented the highest yield efficiency and slightly higher AGPM and root dry weights, indicative of its amelioration action. Similar results have been reported in other species too [7; 38; 54] and were attributed to the impact of GB on the maintenance of plant cell osmotic potential [38], improving water use efficiency [38; 49] and relative water content [49]. Similar effects of GB on AGPM and root water content have been found in the present experiment, as GB increased both of them compared with Control treatment, although not significantly. Toxicity symptoms (such as leaf tip burn, leaf margin necrosis) gradually evolved from the first to the third sampling, on old leaves as has been reported by others too [55; 56; 57], with both GB and BETZ showing the least symptoms at the end of the period. Similar results have been observed in other plants too, as these treatments (zeolite, bentonite, and glycine betaine) have reduced leaf burns and retained chlorophyll content [41; 47; 49; 58]. The tolerance index indicated that the best alleviation treatments were BETZ and GB, with a significant difference from the Control treatment, supporting the efficacy of these two treatments on the mentioned growth parameters under salinity stress. Plant growth was not the only parameter that was affected by salinity. Yield and yield parameters were affected as well, with the yield been significantly reduced by approximately 44%. Reduction of yields has been already reported in strawberries growing under saline conditions [4; 55], and this was attributed to the lower number of fruits [4; 18; 55; 59] and/or lower fruit weight [4; 59]. Taking into account the mean yield per plot of the present trial divided by the mean fruit weight, it is obvious that salinity greatly reduced the number of fruits produced (35 fruits per Blank plot against only 25 in the Control one), not affecting the mean fruit weight, as reported also by [PERSON] et al. [39]. By the heatmaps produced it was obvious that toxicity and the total leaf area were negatively and positively related, respectively, to the yield, revealing the great importance of the leaves on producing the necessary photoassimilates to support bud differentiation and fruit growth. A significant decrease in the number of flowers produced, reaching almost 50%, i.e., approximately the percentage of yield reduction observed in the present trial has been reported by [PERSON] et al. [60]. Marketable fruits have been reported to decrease with salinity too [55], while fruit firmness did not change significantly under salinity stress, although opposite results have been reported [60]. According to [PERSON] et al. [35], the unaltered fruit firmness suggests that Na and Cl levels in the fruits were not high enough to change the activity of pectinases as well as other cell wall degrading enzymes, thus the fruit retained its desirable firmness. The dry-to-fresh weight ratio of the fruits increased under saline conditions, but this should be ascribed to the higher fruit water content under Blank conditions and not to increased accumulation of photosynthates into the fruits of Control, as proposed by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [31], and [PERSON] et al. [39]. The treatments with the various alleviating products resulted in a slight increase in the percentage of fruits belonging to the Extra category and increased total yield, although not significantly differently from that of Control. On the other hand, though, GB application resulted in a 32% increase in yield compared with Control and did not differ significantly from the Blank treatment, revealing a significant alleviation action, attributable to its osmoprotectant, ion homeostasis, anti-chlorophyllase, and possible antioxidant actions [7; 38; 54; 61]. The organoleptic characteristics of the fruits were not affected by salinity as all pulp pH, titratable acidity, total soluble content, and fruit surface color attributes did not differ among treatments.