Halophytes of the Mediterranean Basin—Underutilized Species with the Potential to Be Nutritious Crops in the Scenario of the Climate Change
Halophyte plants are adapted to saline environments and represent a novel type of crops given their possible uses at both culinary and industrial levels. In this work, the nutritional quality of different Mediterranean halophyte species, <i>Atriplex halimus</i>, <i>Salicornia fruti...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/227879 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/227879 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Atriplex halimus Cakile maritima Minerals Phenolic compounds Salicornia fruticosa Salinity |
| Sumario: | Halophyte plants are adapted to saline environments and represent a novel type of crops given their possible uses at both culinary and industrial levels. In this work, the nutritional quality of different Mediterranean halophyte species, <i>Atriplex halimus</i>, <i>Salicornia fruticosa</i>, and <i>Cakile maritima</i>, was evaluated under conditions of high salinity. For this, plants were grown at different NaCl concentrations (0, 100, 200, and 300 mM) and the contents of proteins, total lipids, polyphenols, and mineral elements were analyzed as well as growth. Of the three species, <i>C. maritima</i> was the most sensitive to salt stress and therefore showed the highest phenolic compounds content. By contrast, whereas salinity increased the amounts of proteins and phenolics with respect to the control in <i>A. halimus</i> and <i>S. fruticosa</i>, it decreased them in <i>C. maritima</i>. Plants of <i>A. halimus</i> accumulated higher amounts of Na<sup>+</sup> in their leaves, but the level of this ion, considering human consumption, was below that of other culinary halophyte species. In conclusion, all the results indicate that these three halophyte species grown at high salt levels represent optimal crops for—new foodstuff—production as green salt or spice due to their nutritional potential. |
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