The final productof lipid peroxidation is MDA – which is used as an index of oxidative membrane damage (Calatayud et al., 2002; Ozkur et al., 2009).In our work, improvement in proline accumulation under water stress helped maintain osmotic potential; and may also be involvedin protection against oxidative damage as indicated by lower levels of MDA in the 12/cultivar and 14/cultivar plants (mainly at theend of the experiment under 7% PEG).