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Improved methodologies for extraction of salt in halophytes

Tiago Morais1*, João Vaz1, Loïc Carvalho1 and Leonel Pereira1
  • 1 IMAR (Institute of Marine Research), Department of Life Sciences, Portugal

There are known culinary applications of halophytes species, such as Atriplex halimus, Portulaca oleracea, Beta maritima, Salicornia europaea and Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, mostly due to their mineral content, as they provide an alternative to common salt. Species of the last two genera possess a curious salt resistance mechanism, in which they can store Na+ in vacuoles in their shoots, using these vacuoles to stimulate growth. It is theorized that this mechanism enables the extraction of a vegetable salt, with a different Na+/Cl- ratio , providing healthier applications for human consumption, due to lower Na+ levels. In the present work we try to validate an efficient method for extracting a vegetable salt from a commercial mixture of Salicornia europaea and Salicornia bigelovii, as well as wild Arthrocnemum macrostachyum. We compared the efficiency of two extraction solvents used on this methodology. The used process presented mean yield rates around 70% (Salicornia) and 50% (Arthrocnemum). The comparison of the results between genera was the expected, since Salicornia species are more succulent than Arthrocnemum. This method yield rates in Salicornia appear to be higher than the expected based on previous publication. The data suggests other elements of interest may be differently distributed between the two genera. A nutritional profile, which we intend to do, may elucidate about the contents of vegetable salt.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable help of Dr. Jorge Paiva in the identification of plant species used in this experiment.

References

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Keywords: Halophytes, mineral content, Extraction method, salt alternative, Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, Salicornia spp.

Conference: IMMR | International Meeting on Marine Research 2014, Peniche, Portugal, 10 Jul - 11 Jul, 2014.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: BLUE BIOTECH

Citation: Morais T, Vaz J, Carvalho L and Pereira L (2014). Improved methodologies for extraction of salt in halophytes. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR | International Meeting on Marine Research 2014. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2014.02.00053

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Received: 24 Apr 2014; Published Online: 18 Jul 2014.

* Correspondence: Mr. Tiago Morais, IMAR (Institute of Marine Research), Department of Life Sciences, Coimbra, 3001-401, Portugal, tsmorais86@gmail.com