Levels of trehalose were enhanced by the reduction of WAS in the two sugarcane cultivars (Table 1; Figure 1A). This was observed after the 60th stressed day and this increase was found to be 12% higher for cultivar IAC91-5155 when compared to IAC91-2195 . Carlin and Santos (2009) evaluated the sugarcane variety IAC91-5155 under water stress and observed a trehalose accumulation of 25.9% (increase of 0.54 μmol g–1 fresh mass weight) at the 60th day under stress, reaching concentrations of trehalose of 2.54 μmol g–1 of the fresh weight. There is a distinction among cultivars regarding the ability of trehalose biosynthesis, regardless
of the level of soil moisture and period under stress (Queiroz and Santos, 2009). This difference may be an evidence of tolerance to adverse conditions among different botanical materials. The osmoprotectant effect of the trehalose is highlighted, which is an important trait of acclimatization, which promotes benefits to plants under water restriction