Assessment of phytochemical potential versus ecophysiology of two perennial Salicornia species from the Ria de Aveiro salt marsh

• Autor(a) principal: Magni, Natasha Nonemacher
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/36849
• topic: Salicornia perennis; Salicornia alpini; Fatty acids; Antioxidant compounds; Edible plants; Halophytes; Plant stress

Although the annual halophytes of the genus Salicornia have been studied for their multipotent functionalities, mainly food and nutraceuticals, nevertheless the perennial species of the genus have attracted little attention from the scientific community. In order to enhance Portuguese plant resources, we evaluated the lipophilic composition of two perennial species of Salicornia from the Iberian Peninsula, S. perennis and S. alpini, which inhabit three salt marshes in Ria de Aveiro, and compared them with environmental data from the sediment. Our results show that the phytochemical composition is strongly influenced by the wide environmental variations of the salt marsh, mainly flooding and salinity. Differences between the niches occupied by each species also translate into responses to environmental conditions and, in turn, into phytochemical data. All sampled plants showed contamination by DEHP, a plastic additive. The plant sampled in Ílhavo had unexpected phytochemical results and a high content of azelaic acid, which indicates contamination by pathogens. Plants exposed to milder environmental conditions, such as S. perennis from Mira, tend to have a richer lipophilic profile from a human feeding point of view. The most abundant groups of compounds were sugars, fatty acids, phytosterols, organic acids, phenolic compounds and waxes, whose concentration is mediated by environmental conditions. The two species proved to be promising sources at the nutritional and phytochemical level, with emphasis on medicinal applications or other uses.