Changes

Salicornia plants have been screened for phytochemical profile and presence of a range of carbohydrates, proteins, oils, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, sterols, saponins, alkaloids, and tannins have been reported. Water and alcohol extraction followed by component profiling has indexed many potentially bioactive compounds. Studies have reported the presence of dietary fibers, bioactive polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, sterols, flavonoids, and minerals (Mg, Ca, Fe, K) in S. herbacea (Essaidi et al. 2013). An immunomodulatory polysaccharide was isolated from S. herbacea (Lee et al. 2006; Im et al. 2006). Monosaccharide composition analysis of Salicornia brachiata fraction revealed the dominance of rhamnose, arabinose, mannose, galactose, and glucose, with meager presence of ribose and xylose (Sanandiya and Siddhanta 2014). Proteomic analysis (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry) revealed high protein contents of the seeds. Based on the detection of high disulfide linkages in the globulin proteins, it was deemed suitable for consumption, as sulfur-rich proteins are generally fit for nutrition (Jha et al. 2012). Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used to profile lipidome of S. ramosissima which showed esterified and free fatty acids, fatty alcohol, sterols, alkanes and aromatic acid derivatives. Among the dominant components, palmitic acid, tetracosanol and octacosanol were significant (Isca et al. 2014). Tetracosanol, the aliphatic alcohol has been identified to possess α-amylase ability, which makes it relevant in diabetes therapy (Jhong et al. 2009). Octacosanol, the high-molecular-weight aliphatic alcohol has been known to be a component of cholesterol-lowering drugs such as policosanol (Liu et al. 2015). By metabolomic analysis, S. brachiata was detected to be rich in sulfur amino acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs 55–64 %) (Mishra et al. 2015). Presence of selenium in S. brachiata was detected (Mishra et al. 2015). Selenium is an essential micronutrient for growth and robust antioxidant effects, deficiency of which has been documented to impair the immune system (Finley 2005). In this regard, it appears justified to evaluate dietary extraction of selenium from Salicornia. A study found S. herbacea seed oil to be stable to oxidation and eligible to be used in food processing (Choi et al. 2014). The oil composed of linoleic acid, oleic acid, arachidic acid, palmitic acid, tocopherol (α, γ, δ type), phenol, chlorophyll, and β carotene, was free of rancidity during a 60 day dark storage period (Choi et al. 2014). Stigmastanol, 24-ethyl-δ(22)-coprostenol and several other bioactive fatty alcohols were detected (Isca et al. 2014). In another study, a chlorogenic acid, 3-caffeoyl-4-dicaffeoylquinic acid was detected in S. herbacea extract (Hwang et al. 2010). Another study identified pentadecyl ferulate, stigmasterol, ergosterol, vanillic aldehyde and scopoletin in S. herbacea (Wang et al. 2013). Chromatography could detect β sitosterol (1), stigmasterol (2), uracil (3), and isorhamnetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside in S. herbacea (Lee et al. 2004). Saponins were identified in butanol fraction of S. herbacea extract, some of which exerted antioxidant effect (Kim et al. 2012). Two new noroleanane-type triterpene saponins, Salbige A and B were isolated from the aerial parts of S. herbacea (Zhao et al. 2014). A new nortriterpene saponin, bigelovii D with antifungal potential was isolated from the hydroalcoholic extract of S. bigelovii (Shan et al. 2015).These studies contributed towards phytochemical composition of this genus and emphasized the significant role of non-targeted metabolomics in further component analysis.

==Health Benefits and Uses of Salicornia==