Salt-tolerant plants grow in a wide variety of saline habitats, from coastal regions, salt marshes and mudflats to inland deserts, salt flats and steppes. Halophytes living in these extreme environments have to deal with frequent changes in salinity level. This can be done by developing adaptive responses including the synthesis of several bioactive molecules. Consequently, several salt marsh plants have traditionally been used for medical, nutritional, and even artisanal purposes. Currently, an increasing interest is granted to these species because of their high content in bioactive compounds (primary and secondary metabolites) such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids, vitamins, sterols, essential oils (terpenes), polysaccharides, glycosides, and phenolic compounds. These bioactive substances display potent antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumoral activities, and therefore represent key-compounds in preventing various diseases (e.g. cancer, chronic inflammation, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disorder) and ageing processes. The ongoing research will lead to the utilisation of halophytes as a new source of healthy products as functional foods, nutraceuticals or active principles in several industries. This contribution focuses on the ethnopharmacological uses of halophytes in traditional medicine and reviews recent investigations on their biological activities and nutraceuticals. The work is distributed according to the different families of nutraceuticals (lipids, vitamins, proteins, glycosides, phenolic compounds, etc.) discussing the analytical techniques employed for their determination. Information about the claimed health promoting effects of the different families of nutraceuticals is also provided together with data on their application.

Medicinal halophytes: potent source of health promoting biomolecules with medical, nutraceutical and food applications.

Radical scavenging, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of halophytic species.

Propagule masses are here recorded for shade-tolerant species belonging to 20 genera which show an average of about three-and-one-third times the mass of the propagules of co-generic species of open habitats. These are additional to the 30 genera already reported on by the author. Propagules of cornfield weeds belonging to 18 genera are shown to exhibit greater masses than their congeners, even though some of these are shade-tolerant, and this, it is suggested, may be the outcome of the prolonged selective effect of ‘winnowing’. Other causes of heavy propagules of open-habitat species are suggested, indicative of natural selection.

Seed size and mass in relation to environment

Over 800 million hectares of arable lands are affected by salinity in the world. In China, saline-alkali soils account for 25% of farmland and are underutilized. One sustainable strategy to make better use of saline land is to plant halophytes, salt-tolerant plants that can survive and complete their life cycle in media containing more than 200 mM NaCl. Halophytes have potential economic value as grain, vegetable, fruit, medicine, animal feed, and biofuel feedstocks, and in greening and coastal protection. Therefore, the cultivation and protection of halophytes is very important. In the past few decades, a lot of work has been done on the protection and utilization of halophytes in saline soil improvement and development worldwide. This article focuses on the distribution of saline-alkali conditions and current measures to protect halophytes, as well as the application of halophytes in the sustainable development of saline-alkali land. This information is helpful for protection and utilization of halophytes in the sustainable development of saline land worldwide.

Protection of Halophytes and Their Uses for Cultivation of Saline-Alkali Soil in China.

Though halophytes are naturally adapted to salinity, their salt-tolerance limits are greatly influenced by their provenance and developmental stage. In the present study, physio-biochemical responses of two Tunisian ecotypes of the oilseed coastal halophyte Cakile maritima (Brassicaceae) to salinity (0–400 mM NaCl) were monitored during germination and vegetative growth stages. Tabarka and Jerba seeds were collected from humid or arid climatic areas, respectively. Plant response to salinity appeared to depend on the ecotype and salinity levels. Increasing salinity inhibited germination process. Jerba seeds were found to be more salt tolerant than the Tabarka ones. At the autotrophic stage of growth and under salt-free conditions, Jerba was less productive than Tabarka (in terms of dry matter accumulation), but plant biomass production and leaf expansion (area and number) of the former ecotype were progressively improved by 100 mM NaCl, as compared to the control. In contrast, at the same salt concentration, these parameters decreased under increasing salinity in Tabarka (salt sensitive). Leaf chlorophyll content was reduced at severe salinity, but this effect was more conspicuous in the sensitive Tabarka plants. Na+ contents in the Jerba and Tabarka leaves collected from the 400 mM NaCl-treated plants were 17- and 12-fold higher than in the respective controls. This effect was accompanied by a significant reduction in the leaf K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ contents, especially in the salt-treated Tabarka. A significant accumulation of proline and soluble carbohydrates in leaves was found during the period of intensive leaf growth. These organic compounds likely play a role in leaf osmotic adjustment and in protection of membrane stability at severe salinity.

Salt tolerance of the annual halophyte Cakile maritima as affected by the provenance and the developmental stage

Summary

1
This account reviews information on all aspects of the biology of Cakile maritima that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the standard framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors, responses to environment, structure and physiology, phenology, floral and seed characters, herbivores and disease, history and conservation.

2
Cakile maritima (sea rocket) is a succulent, annual species that is confined to maritime strandlines on sand or shingle, and associated foredunes. British material is ssp. integrifolia (= ssp. maritima), found around the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Europe. Cakile maritima shows considerable variation, within and between subspecies, especially in fruit morphology and leaf shape. A very closely related species, Cakile edentula, is native to the east coast of North America. Both species have been introduced to Pacific North America and Australia.

3
Populations of C. maritima tend be ephemeral and shifting, depending on dispersal by tides and wind. The fruits are 2-segmented: the distal segments are readily detached and can float considerable distances in seawater; the proximal segments tend to shed their seed while attached to the maternal plant. Seeds require cold stratification and do not germinate at high salinity, or usually while retained in intact fruit segments. There is often a flush of germination in strandlines left by early season, equinoctial spring tides. Cakile maritima shows great phenotypic plasticity of form and reproductive output. Work on C. edentula suggests that abundance is regulated by a combination of density-dependent and density-independent processes. Landward dispersal of seeds from strandline populations may subsidise foredune populations, which themselves experience severe mortality from predators.

4
Cakile maritima is tolerant of salt spray and transient seawater inundation. Although beach and dune sand is a meagre source of macronutrients, C. maritima shows large growth responses to nitrogen addition and can exploit local nitrogen enrichment associated with mineralisation of organic detritus washed up on the strandline. Growth is stimulated by burial with blown sand and plants sometimes form the nuclei of early successional foredunes. The tissues are rich in glucosinolates; these may be responsible for the limited ranges of herbivores and fungal pathogens, and the absence of mycorrhiza.

Biological flora of the British Isles: Cakile maritima Scop.

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Biological flora of the British Isles: Cakile maritima Scop.