Culinary ''
S. europaea is edible, either cooked or raw, as are
S. rubra and
S. depressa. In England,
S. europaea is one of several plants known as
samphire (including
rock samphire); the term samphire is believed to be a corruption of the French name,
[herbe de] Saint-Pierre, which means "St. Peter's herb". In Hawaii, where it is known as "sea asparagus", it is often blanched and used as a topping for salads or accompaniment for fish. In addition to
S. europaea, the seeds of
S. bigelovii yield an edible oil.
S. bigelovii's edibility is compromised somewhat because it contains
saponins, which are toxic under certain conditions. In
Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka, it is used to feed donkeys. On the east coast of Canada, the plant is known as "samphire greens" and is a local delicacy. In
southeast Alaska, it is known as
beach asparagus. In
Nova Scotia, Canada, they are known as '''crow's foot greens
. In British Columbia, they are known as sea asparagus. In the United States, they are known as "sea beans" when used for culinary purposes. Other names include sea green bean
, sea pickle''', and marsh samphire. In India, researchers at the
Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute developed a process to yield culinary salt from
S. brachiata. The resulting product is known as
vegetable salt and sold under the brand name Saloni. Dehydrated, pulverized
Salicornia is sold under the brand name "Green Salt" as a
salt substitute claimed to be as salty in taste as table salt, but with less sodium.
Pharmacological research In South Korea, Phyto Corporation has developed a technology of extracting low-sodium salt from
S. europaea, a salt-accumulating plant. The company claims that the naturally derived plant salt is effective in treating
high blood pressure and
fatty liver disease by reducing sodium intake. The company has also developed a desalted
Salicornia powder containing
antioxidative and antithrombus
polyphenols, claimed to be effective in treating
obesity and
arteriosclerosis, as well as providing a means to help resolve global food shortages.
Environmental uses Pickleweed is used in
phytoextraction. It is highly effective at removing
selenium from soil, which is absorbed by the plant and then released into the atmosphere to be dispersed by prevailing winds. Pickleweed (
S. bigelovii) has been found to have average
volatilization rates 10–100 times higher than other species.
Industrial use Historical '' The ashes of
glasswort and
saltwort plants and of
kelp were long used as a source of soda ash (mainly
sodium carbonate) for glassmaking and soapmaking. The introduction of the
LeBlanc process for industrial production of soda ash superseded the use of plant sources in the first half of the 19th century. Umari keerai is used as raw material in paper and board factories. it can be used to produce animal feedstuff and as a biofuel feedstock on coastal land where conventional crops cannot be grown. Adding nitrogen-based
fertiliser to the seawater appears to increase the rate of growth and the eventual height of the plant, and the effluent from marine
aquaculture (e.g.
shrimp farming) is a suggested use for this purpose. aimed at the production of
biodiesel. The company responsible for the Sonora trials (Global Seawater) claims between 225 and 250
gallons of BQ-9000 biodiesel can be produced per hectare (approximately 2.5 acres) of salicornia, and is promoting a $35 million scheme to create a salicornia farm in
Bahia de Kino.
Stems and
roots of
S. brachiata plants have a high
cellulose content (ca. 30 wt. %), whereas tender stem tips exhibit a low cellulose content (9.2 wt. %).
S. brachiata revealed the dominance of
rhamnose,
arabinose,
mannose,
galactose, and
glucose, with meager presence of
ribose and
xylose in their structural
polysaccharide. ==See also==