The water limitation also influenced strongly the aerial portion
of the crop due to a combination of both reduced expansion and
dry matter accumulation. Water shortage sharply affected the leaf
biomass accumulation at very early stages, in accordance with previous
works (Li et al., 2011; Tei et al., 1996). Chenopodiaceae use
leaf succulence as a mechanism to avoid dehydration (Tsialtas et al.,
2010), as confirmed by the inconsistent reduction of LWC values in
water stressed leaves.