Growth performance, in vitro antioxidant properties and chemical composition of the halophyte Limonium algarvense Erben are strongly influenced by the irrigation salinity

Abstract

Limonium algarvense Erben (sea lavender) is a halophyte species with potential to provide natural ingredients with in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and antidiabetic properties. This study reports for the first time the 1) cultivation of sea lavender in greenhouse conditions under irrigation with freshwater (approx. 0 mM NaCl) and saline aquaculture wastewater (300 and 600 mM NaCl), and 2) the influence of the irrigation salinity on the plant performance (e.g. growth, number of produced leaves and flowers), in vitro antioxidant properties [radical scavenging activity (DPPH and ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), metal chelating properties on copper (CCA) and iron (ICA)], toxicity (in vitro on three mammalian cell lines) and chemical composition (determined by LC-ESI-HRMS/MS). The freshwater-irrigated plants had better growth performance than those irrigated with saltwater. Extracts from wild plants, had the highest antioxidant activity, but those from cultivated ones kept high in vitro antioxidant properties and interesting chemical profile. The flowers' extracts of plants irrigated with 300 mM NaCl had the highest antioxidant activities against DPPH, whereas those from freshwater-irrigated plants were more active on ABTS, CCA and FRAP. Most of the extracts showed nil toxicity. The flowers' extracts displayed the highest diversity of compounds, mainly quercetin, apigenin, luteolin, naringenin and their glycoside derivatives. Moreover, their abundance varied with the irrigation salinity. These data indicate that sea lavender plants can be successfully cultivated in greenhouse conditions under fresh-and saltwater irrigation, maintaining interesting biological and chemical properties. 1. Introduction Plants are used as a source of health improvement commodities since ancient times, generally as herbal infusions, juices, elixirs, and extracts (Miroddi et al., 2013). Nowadays, botanical nutraceuticals (e.g. raspberry ketones, green tea supplements, echinacea, Garcinia cambogia, Ginkgo biloba) are also used with the same purposes: to improve health, delay the aging process, prevent chronic diseases, increase life expectancy, and support the structure or function of the body (Nicoletti, 2012; Nasri et al., 2014). These products are sold in different forms, like fresh or dried products, liquid or solid extracts, tablets, capsules, powders, or tea bags (Grand View Research, 2017). Products containing natural ingredients, such as nutraceuticals, have generally easier access to consumers, lower prices and are more effective when compared to prescription drugs, which combined with the growing consumer awareness of the importance of a healthier lifestyle increased the popularity of these products and the demand for natural-based formulations (Nasri et al., 2014; Grand View Research, 2017). This boosted the need to identify and develop innovative and bioactive nutraceutical ingredients, sustaining the projections for the global nutraceuticals market of 578 billion dollars by 2025 (Grand View...

Metabolomic Profile and Biological Properties of Sea Lavender (Limonium algarvense Erben) Plants Cultivated with Aquaculture Wastewaters: Implications for Its Use in Herbal Formulations and Food Additives

“…All sea lavender plants, from all the irrigation conditions, survived until the end of the experiment. However, plants irrigated with 600 mM NaCl were not able to produce flower stems and flowers [ 28 ]. Thus, data on the in vitro antioxidant activity and the metabolomic profile of these plant organs cultivated under this condition were not possible to obtain.…”

“…Cultivated plants were derived from wild-collected seeds (June 2018) of sea lavender from “Ria de Alvor” (Algarve, Portugal; coordinates: 37°07′34.8″ N 8°35′54.9″ W) and grown under greenhouse conditions irrigated with freshwater (approx. 0 mM NaCl) and aquaculture wastewaters at two salinity concentrations, namely, 300 and 600 mM NaCl [ 28 ]. After 14 weeks of cultivation, plants were separated into flowers, peduncles, and leaves, dried for 3 days at 40 °C, and powdered and stored at −20 °C until needed.…”

“…Chromatographic separation was carried out on a C18 reversed-phase Halo column 100 Å (150 mm × 2.1 mm, 2.7 μm particle size; Advanced Materials Technology, Wilmington, DE, USA), using a gradient elution of 0.1% formic acid in water (phase A) and acetonitrile (phase B). For details on LC-HRMS/MS settings, see Rodrigues et al [ 28 ].…”

“…The halophyte Limonium algarvense Erben (sea lavender) is rich in several bioactive secondary metabolites, especially flavonoids and its derivatives, and displays important bioactivities that are highly relevant for the improvement of human health [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Moreover, this species can be cultivated under greenhouse conditions and irrigated with aquaculture wastewater up to 300 mM NaCl [ 28 ]. This work aimed to further explore sea lavender cultivated under irrigation with aquaculture wastewater as a source of innovative and sustainable natural products to be used as food preservatives and/or as a functional ingredient for herbal supplements.…”

Optimizing methods to characterize caffeic, ferulic, and chlorogenic acids in Salicornia sinus-persica and Salicornia bigelovii extracts by tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

“…Several of the halophytes are edible and contain important free radical scavenging anti-inflammatory compounds, such as Suaeda vermiculata, which indicate their possible use in nutraceuticals (Oueslati et al 2012). Similarly, sea lavender (Limonium algarvense Erben), have been reported to exhibit antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antidiabetic and neuroprotective properties, which are dependent on the cultivation conditions (Rodrigues et al 2020). There have been several new halophyte species described recently in the Gulf region, including in the United Arab Emirates.…”