Salinity and medicinal plants: Challenges and strategies for production

Abstract

Medicinal plants, since antiquity, have been relevant due to their therapeutic properties, are widely used for the prevention and treatment of diseases. However, the growth and production of these plants are impacted by a notorious environmental stressor, salinity. In this sense, this study aimed to review the impacts of salinity on plant development, the deleterious effects of this environmental stressor on the production of medicinal plants, and the production strategies of these species in saline conditions. Areas with salt excess problems have been increasing all over the planet, mainly due to human actions such as inadequate irrigation management. Salinity impacts plants at different times, the first phase results from osmotic stress, while the second derives from the ionic toxicity of the salt constituents. In medicinal plants, saline stress causes damage from germination to changes in morphological characteristics, physiology, nutrient concentration, and productivity. However, in some species, exposure to moderate degrees of salinity was positive for medicinal quality, with an improvement in the constitution of the essential oil. Strategies for the production of medicinal plants in saline conditions are reported in the literature, such as the use of amino acids (such as proline and betaine glycine), salicylic acid, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, resistance inducing genes, and projected nanoparticles. These strategies may represent an option for agricultural production in marginal areas and with waters with higher levels of salts.