Sesuvium portulacastrum, a plant for drought, salt stress, sand fixation, food and phytoremediation. A review

Abstract

International audienceSesuvium portulacastrum L. is a pioneer plant species, used for sand-dune fixation, desalination and phytoremediation along coastal regions. The plant tolerates abiotic constraints such as salinity, drought and toxic metals. S. portulacastrum is also used as a vegetable, fodder for domestic animals and as an ornamental plant. S. portulacastrum grows luxuriantly at 100–400 mM NaCl concentrations. It further grows at severe salinity of 1000 mM NaCl without any toxic symptoms on the leaves. The plant also produces 20-hydroxyecdysone, an insect molting hormone for use in sericulture industry. This review analyses research undertaken during last two to three decades in physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and biotechnology, to unravel the plasticity of the plant tolerance mechanism. Physiological and biochemical studies evidence the tolerance potential of the plant to abiotic stresses and reveal molecular mechanisms of stress tolerance. Biotechnological studies show the efficacy of the plant to produce pharmaceuticals. Large-scale multiplication of S. portulacastrum in the arid and semiarid regions should reduce the load of saline salts and heavy metals

Halophytes in biosaline agriculture: Mechanism, utilization, and value addition

“…Apart from salt tolerance, Sesuvium also exhibits high potential for accumulation of heavy metals. It has shown high accumulation of cadmium (350–700 μg g −1 dry matter), lead (3,400 μg g −1 DW), arsenic (155 μg g −1 DW; reviewed in Lokhande et al, ), nickel (1,050 μg g 1 DW; Fourati, Wali, Vogel‐Miku, Abdelly, & Ghnaya, ), and cesium (536.10 μg g −1 ; Nikalje, Srivastava, Nikam, & Suprasanna, ). Also, Sesuvium has shown potential application for degradation of textile dyes such as reactive green HE4B (Patil, Lokhande, Suprasanna, Bapat, & Jadhav, ) and Reactive green 19A‐reactive green HE4BD (Lokhande, Kudale, Nikalje, Desai, & Suprasanna, ).…”

“…Essential oil extracted from leaves of Sesuvium has shown antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activity (Magawa, Gundidza, Gweru, & Humphrey, ). Sesuvium is a rich source of amino acids, alkaloids, polysaccharides, saponins, minerals, steroids, and triterpines (reviewed in Lokhande et al, ).…”

Heavy Metals Contaminated Environments and the Road Map with Phytoremediation

“…For example, Islam et al [56] reported that high level (100 mg•kg −1 ) As plus Cr caused a further decreased plant growth and chlorophyll content, increased MDA and H 2 O 2 contents as well as antioxidative enzymes activities significantly (P ≤ 0.05) and less severe inhibition of plant growth and oxidative damage was observed in O-795 (Cr-tolerant jute) than in O-9897 (Cr-sensitive jute) indicating variety O-795 had more efficient defense system to mitigate heavy metal induced oxidative stress. Some plants (such as Sesuvium portulacastrum L.) however posses the molecular and physiological flexibility [68] to deal with such parched sites. Also chelating agents like synthetic ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) was applied to Pb contaminated soil (total soil Pb 2500 mg•kg −1 ) and this increased the amount of bioavailable lead in the soil and caused a greater accumulation in plants (Zea mays (corn) and Pisun sativum (pea)) from less than 500 mg•kg −1 to more than 10,000 mg•kg −1 [42].…”

Phytochemical composition of some common coastal halophytes of the United Arab Emirates

“…portulacastrum is a long known medicinal plant traditionally used by healers in South Africa to treat infections (Magwa et al, 2006), where it was used as a remedy for fever, kidney disorders and scurvy (Rojas et al, 1992). Sesuvium species containing secondary metabolites have shown a great potential to substitute some artificial raw materials applied in nutraceuticals, cosmetics and perfumery industries (Lis-Balchin & Deans, 1997; Lokhande et al, 2013). Essential oil extracted from the leaves by hydrodistillation have been found to contain active phytochemicals (mostly terpenoids), which included (in descending order of amount in the essential oil): o-cymene, alpha-and betapinene, trans-caryophyllene, 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), limonene, alpha-terpinene and alphaterpinolene, camphene, bornylacetate, tridecane and alpha-humulene.…”