Unlocking the hidden nutritional value of Portuguese edible halophytes cultivated under estuarine water irrigation schemes

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Unlocking the hidden nutritional value of Portuguese edible halophytes cultivated under estuarine water irrigation schemes Filipa Antunes1, Bernardo Duarte2*, Márcia V. Pinto3, Anabela B. Silva4, Ana Rita Matos4, Isabel Caçador2 and Carlos Brandão1 1 Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo do Estoril, Portugal 2 Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente (MARE), Portugal 3 Salina Greens Unip Lda, Portugal 4 Instituto de Biossistemas e Ciências Integrativas (BioISI), Portugal The present environmental conditions impose serious constrains to typical cultivar farming. Halophytes are known to be high resistant to harsh environments, withstanding drought and salinity conditions while maintain positive biomass production rates. It is known that plants to adapt to adverse conditions suffer some lipid remodelling to maintain membrane stability and the efficiency of the metabolic processes associated to these systems. Thus, this opens a new door for potential biotechnological applications based in added-value fatty acids produced by halophytes. These can be employed in the food industry sector, with some halophytes showing very interesting concentrations of essential omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, even under seawater irrigation schemes. Additionally, to overcome the continuous stress to which these plants are normally exposed, they produce high amounts carotenoids, phenolics and flavenoids to counteract possible oxidative burst within the photosynthetic cells. These molecules are also important to consider as important supplements for human consumption, with recognized nutritional value. The numerous biochemical strategies adopted by plants to cope with salinity include the selective accumulation or exclusion of ions and sugars. The high endogenous concentration of such compounds, known to have healthy properties for human consumption, can be precious for the nutritive characteristics of food. Thus, halophytes grown under estuarine water irrigation schemes could also be a source of compounds with a potential added nutritive and economic value, representing high-value crops, for both food production and biotechnological applications, such as biodiesel production. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank to the “Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)” for funding the research in the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE) throughout the project UID/MAR/04292/2013 and in the Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute (BioISI) throughout the project UID/MULTI/04046/2013. BD investigation was supported by FCT throughout a Postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/115162/2016). Keywords: Halophytes, Nutritional value, Saline agriculture, Fatty Acids, Sugars, Carotenoids Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Blue Biotech Citation: Antunes F, Duarte B, Pinto MV, Silva AB, Matos A, Caçador I and Brandão C (2019). Unlocking the hidden nutritional value of Portuguese edible halophytes cultivated under estuarine water irrigation schemes. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00032 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 29 Mar 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: PhD. Bernardo Duarte, Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente (MARE), Lisbon, Portugal, baduarte@fc.ul.pt Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Filipa Antunes Bernardo Duarte Márcia V Pinto Anabela B Silva Ana Rita Matos Isabel Caçador Carlos Brandão Google Filipa Antunes Bernardo Duarte Márcia V Pinto Anabela B Silva Ana Rita Matos Isabel Caçador Carlos Brandão Google Scholar Filipa Antunes Bernardo Duarte Márcia V Pinto Anabela B Silva Ana Rita Matos Isabel Caçador Carlos Brandão PubMed Filipa Antunes Bernardo Duarte Márcia V Pinto Anabela B Silva Ana Rita Matos Isabel Caçador Carlos Brandão Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.