Edible halophytes of the Mediterranean basin: Potential candidates for novel food products

Abstract

Background: Recent trends in the food science industry and consumers' preferences for diversified diets suggest the consumption of wild greens not only as diet complements but also as healthy and functional foods for targeted conditions, rendering its commercial cultivation of major importance in order to avoid irrational gathering and genetic erosion threats. The Mediterranean basin abounds in wild edible species which have been used for food and medicinal purposes by human throughout the centuries. Many of these species can be found near coastal areas and usually grow under saline conditions, while others can adapt in various harsh conditions including high salinity. Scope and approach: The aim of this review focuses on listing and describing the most important halophyte species that traditionally have been gathered by rural communities of the Mediterranean basin, while special interest will be given on their chemical composition and health promoting components. Cases of commercially cultivated halophytes will be also presented to highlight their potential as alternative cash crops, while results from in vitro and in vivo health effects will be presented. Key findings and conclusions: The recent literature has provided useful information regarding the potential of wild halophytes as promising ingredients in functional food products and/or as sources of bioactive compounds. However, further research is needed regarding the chemical characterization of these species under commercial cultivation practices, while further clinical and model trials have to be conducted to assess their long term bioactivity and elucidate potential toxic effects and regulations of safe consumption.

Wild and Cultivated Centaurea raphanina subsp. mixta: A Valuable Source of Bioactive Compounds

“…These effects are mostly associated with their high content in phytochemicals such as flavanones [7], sterols [6], phenolic acids [8][9][10], sesquiterpene lactones [11][12][13], omega-3 fatty acids [14,15] and other secondary metabolites with bioactive and antioxidant properties. The increasing demand for functional foods has put wild edible greens in the center of attention and many recent studies have highlighted the potential of commercial exploitation of wild plants that may diversify modern diets and increase throughout the year the availability of such products [9,[16][17][18][19][20]. However, domestication of wild species needs several aspects to be considered since various reports highlighted significant changes of bioactive compounds content in domesticated species compared to their wild counterparts, while scarce literature reports exist regarding their agronomic requirements [17,21].…”

Bioactive compounds content and antimicrobial activities of wild edible Asteraceae species of the Mediterranean flora under commercial cultivation conditions

“…Although most of these species are traditionally hand-picked in the wild by the locals, the increasing demand for such food products has created a market niche for commercial exploitation of native species in order to fulfill consumer demands for product availability throughout the year, as well as to lessen the risk for genetic erosion due to irrational gathering . Therefore, recently there are reports for cultivation practices of native species and how these practices may affect its chemical composition and bioactive compounds content (Chatzigianni et al, 2017;Petropoulos et al, 2017;Petropoulos, Karkanis, Martins, & Ferreira, 2018), as well as reports for potential commercial cultivation of such species (Martinez et al, 2015).…”

Effect of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria on Salicornia ramosissima Seed Germination under Salinity, CO2 and Temperature Stress

“…In the Mediterranean basin, there is special interest in the chemical composition and health promoting components of wild halophytes, like those belonging to Salicornia genus. They may be promising functional food products and/or sources of bioactive compounds [11]. Indeed, there have been some successful cultivation cases of some Salicornia species, and they can be found in bibliography or media as "sea asparagus" [12][13][14].…”