**1. Introduction**

Mango (*Mangifera indica* L.), a tropical tree, is highly sensitive to low temperatures and needs protection against chilling damage. Mango grows very well in a warm, frost-free environment with a specified winter dry season. Mango's optimum temperature ranges from 24 to 26.7 ◦C, with a minimum temperature of 10–12 ◦C, and chilling injury (CI) symptoms occur below these temperatures [1]. Currently, mango is experiencing CI during winter in Egypt, which affects its normal growth and development. According to the Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate (CLAC) data, the minimum temperatures during the winter season have fluctuated over the last decade. This has caused cold symptoms in plants, specifically in tropical and subtropical fruit trees. Several cytological, biochemical, physiological, and molecular activities are altered due to chilling stress. They include photosynthesis, plasma membrane permeability, water status, osmotic balance, antioxidant activities, and other processes [2]. Many plant species have accrued SA when exposed to chilling stress. Salicylic acid (SA), an endogenous plant hormone, plays a vital role in growth, photosynthetic activity, and pigment content and has crucial physiological and biological roles in normal and stressed plants' metabolism [3–6]. SA application improves CI tolerance in many fruit tree species, including apple [7], apricot [8], banana [9], citrus [10], guava [11], kiwifruit [12], loquat [13], mango [14], peach [15], cactus pear [16], plum [17], and pomegranate [18,19]. The vast majority of SA applications has the goal to alleviate CI to fruits during cold storage, and SA use to ease CI on fruit trees is very limited.

**Citation:** Hmmam, I.; Ali, A.E.M.; Saleh, S.M.; Khedr, N.; Abdellatif, A. The Role of Salicylic Acid in Mitigating the Adverse Effects of Chilling Stress on "Seddik" Mango Transplants. *Agronomy* **2022**, *12*, 1369. https://doi.org/10.3390/ agronomy12061369

Academic Editor: Juan Jose Rios

Received: 25 April 2022 Accepted: 30 May 2022 Published: 6 June 2022

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Therefore, this study aimed to investigate SA role in mitigating the effects of chilling stress on Egyptian "Seddik" mango cultivar transplants.
