**3.2 Plant antioxidant defense against drought**

According to Nahar et al. [67], a drought exposed *V. radiate* seedlings had lower AsA/DHA and GSH/GSSG ratios, but higher APX, GR, GPX, and GST activities, compared to control, which added to drought, persuaded oxidative loss tolerance. Rady et al. [68] reported raised H2O2 (26.2 percent) and O2 (51 percent) production, as well as elevated SOD, CAT, and APX activities by 110 percent, 66 percent, and 77 percent, respectively and also considerably amplified AsA, GSH, and -tocopherol level, in *S. Lycopersicum* cv. *Login* 935 treated to drought stress (60 percent FC for 20 days). Improved tolerance for drought stress via the antioxidant framework regulation has also been demonstrated in several chemical priming techniques. Antoniou et al. [69], who found that pre-treatment of *M. sativa* plants with melatonin led to enhanced CAT activity and lower H2O2 amount relative to untreated plants.
