Both total soluble sugar and proline levels increased by the all salt treatments compared to the non-stressed shoots in Scorzonera hieraciifolia . Moreover, the highest increases in the contents of proline (2.6-fold) and total soluble sugar (1.4-fold) were observed in the 600 mM salt treated seedlings in comparison with the 0 mM NaCl treatment. There were 1.2-fold and 1.3-fold increases in proline and total soluble sugar contents of the shoots treated with 300 mM NaCl, respectively (Figures 2A, B).