The current study involved callus induction from stem segments of Helianthus annuus L. seedlings on the medium MS supported by adding BA with a concentration of 1.0 mg.l-1 and NAA with a concentration of 0.5 mg.l-1. Callus was used to identify the effect of sodium chloride (150mM), ascorbic acid (20 mg.l-1) and the interaction between them on some cell contents sunflower callus. The addition of sodium chloride to the growth medium resulted in the increase in the proline concentration, soluble saccharides, the activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes, a decrease in the concentrations of proteins and nuclear acids in the callus. From the other hand, the ascorbic acid and its interference with sodium chloride had a positive effects on increasing the contents of the callus tissues compared to the salinity treatment. The differentiation of the salinity treatment callus failed while the callus of the ascorbic acid treatment was superior in terms of its differentiation into vegetative branches and forming the plantlets compared to the rest of the treatments. Soaking the sunflower seeds in the solution of ascorbic acid improved the indicators of the plant growth and reduced the negative effects of sodium chloride and this is evidenced by the increase in the plant height, the increase in the fresh and dry weight, the leaf area, number of seeds.disc-1, the weight of 100 seeds, chlorophyll concentration in the leaves and the content of oil and protein in the seeds.