Batis maritima
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| Batis maritima | |
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| Batis maritima | |
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| Genus: | [[[Batis]]
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| Species: | maritima
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| Binomial name | |
| Batis maritima | |
Batis maritima (Saltwort /Beachwort) is a halophyte. Is is also known as turtleweed, pickleweed, barilla, planta de sal, camphire, herbe-à-crâbes, and akulikuli-kai [1]. It is a C3-Plant, long-lived perennial, dioecious, succulent shrub. The seeds are of high nutritional value[2]. The plant forms dense colonies in salt marshes, brackish marshes, and mangrove swamps and frequently is found on the margins of salt pans and wind-tidal flats. [3].
Morphology
Seed
They are 1.1 mm long and 0.8 mm wide and have an extreme low weight (0.5 mg/seed) [2]. Seeds have a smooth, very dark and hard walled coating[2]. They have an elongated lenticular shape. It has been reported that they have germinated after several months of floating in seawater [2].
Seedling
Each of the pair of cotyledons is fleshy, whereas young leaves are thick, glaucous, and succulent and are similar to mature leaves [3]. The primary root branches early in development and is unbranched until the shoot is 10 cm or more in height [4].
Adult Plant and flowers
Plants are dioecious, perennial subshrubs 0.1–1.5 m tall which form dense colonies. Branching is alternate, and adventitious roots form at the nodes. Leaves are opposite and sessile, and the stipules are vestigial; blades are succulent, linear, linear-clavate, or linear-oblanceolate, glabrous, 3–4 angled, and 1–2 cm long. The small, white flowers of Batis maritima are self-incompatible and the morphology of the pollen indicate that the plant is wind pollinated [3].
Geographical Distribution and Environmental Requirements
B. maritima occurs on both Atlantic and Pacific tropical coasts of the three Americas and the Caribbean Islands [4]. The northern distribution (up to 33uN latitude) appears to be influenced by frost events [3]. Many sites where maritime saltwort occurs are subject to severe tropical storms [3]. Maritime saltwort has been reported as an invasive species in Hawaii, where it displaces native species.
It typically occurs at elevations less than 1.0 m above mean sea level and at sites where salinity ranges from 18 to 50 ppt (muddy tidalbanks, mangrove swamps, salt-marshes, mud and saltflats) [3] It also grows in soils without salt but is vulnerable to competition from nonhalophytes [1]. Batis maritima occurs in sites normally subject to minimal sand coverage [3]. Wrack deposits seem to stimulate growth [3].
The ability to produce adequate levels of biomass over a wide environmental range, characteristic for salt marshes [3], have been well documented [5].
The plant ist not seriously affected by insects, disease, or grazing, but the shoots cannot bear sand coverage.
Product use
Seeds
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
46.5 % | |||||
| Sugars | 1.20 % 0.03 % 0.1 % | ||||
25 % | |||||
17.3 % | |||||
| |||||
| Other constituents | Quantity | ||||
| Water | 7.3 % | ||||
source Batis maritima (Saltwort/Beachwort): a nutritious, halophytic, seed bearings, perennial shrub for cultivation and recovery of otherwise unproductive agricultural land affected by salinity[6] | |||||
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[7] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[8] | |||||
The yellow to golden hued meal is used for food [2]. Due to its high oil content it has the potential to be an oil crop.
Main component of seeds are carbohydrates [2]. The extremely small starch granule size [2], could be useful for other food and non food applications, which require small starch granules. The level of sucrose found in these seeds is in comparison to other creals low. Overall low values of soluble sugars are found [2].
The seed contains high levels of crude protein [2]. The vast majority of its storage proteins are of the aqueous soluble form [2]. It is also a good source of the essential amino acids lysine and methionine which are usually the limiting amino acids found in most studied cereal grains [2].
Seeds contain substantial amounts of oil (25.0%) similar to those found in safflower, cottonseed and sunflower [2]. With a linoleic acid C 18:2 content of 73% it has one of the highest C18:2 contents of any known oil [2]. It also rich in tocopherols, particularly a-tocopherol 0.07% (700 mg/kg) and shows high levels of phytosterol 2427.4 mg/kg [2]. Those compounds are considered to be very healthy.
The seeds are rich in elements like phosphorous (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and iron (Fe) [2]. Examination of the seed for sodium (Na) did not reveal any elevated accumulation of this element (i.e., 500 ppm) which would be of nutritional concern [2].
Leaves
Leaves occasionally are added to salads in Puerto Rico, it has been used as a pot herb, puree and pickle [1] .
Roots
The Comcáac used the roots to sweeten coffee before they had access to sugar [9].
Medicinal Use
Batis maritima has been used in folk herbal medicine in Puerto Rico to treat gout, eczema, psoriasis, rheumatism, blood disorders, and thyroid disorders [10].
Additional value
Batis maritima is proposed to have a major role in reducing ozone levels in the stratosphere (Bill et al., 2002; Manley et al. 2006; Rhew, et al., 2002). Maritime saltwort produces methyl halides, which are the chief carriers of bromide and chloride ions from the marine and terrestrial environments to the stratosphere (Manley et al., 2006; Ni and Hager, 1998; Rhew et al., 2002). Halide emission by B. maritima is temperature influenced, and a small area of salt marsh dominated by maritime saltwort can make an appreciable contribution to total methyl halides emitted from a salt marsh (Manley et al., 2006).
Physiology
Leaf succulence increases significantly in the dry season and leaves are shed, thereby reducing salt-induced stress [3]. Water balance is influenced further by nighttime transpiration rates that significantly reduce predawn xylem pressure potential. Saltwort has year-round photosynthetic activity, but the winter rate of carbon dioxide fixation is reduced.
It is recognized as a major colonizer after mangroves are destroyed by hurricanes [1]. Although it is not a water plant, it can endure brief flooding and long periods of waterlogged soils [11]. Saltwort grows slowly in soils with high saltconcentrations but it suffers little competition from other plants [1]. The species manages salts by sequestering them in cell vacuoles and eventually shedding the leaves [3].
Symbionts
Obligate-symbiotic vesicular-arbus cular mycorrhizae (VAM) colonize B. maritima roots. VAM improve phosphate nutrition and indirectly reduces water stress in host plants [12].
References
- ^ a b c d John K. Francis, ???. "Batis maritima L.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Massimo F. Marcone, 2003. "Batis maritima (Saltwort/Beachwort): a nutritious, halophytic, seed bearings, perennial shrub for cultivation and recovery of otherwise unproductive agricultural land affected by salinity Food Research International 36:123-130
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Robert I. Lonard, Frank W. Judd, and Richard Stalter, 2011. "The Biological Flora of Coastal Dunes and Wetlands: Batis maritima C. Linnaeus Journal of Coastal Research 27(3):441-449, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-10-00142.1
- ^ a b Duncan S. Johnson, 1935. The Development of the Shoot, Male Flower and Seedling of Batis maritima L. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 62:19-32
- ^ Haddad, and Maher M. Noaman, 2001. "Leaching requirement and salinity threshold for the yield and agronomic characteristics of halophytes under salt stress El-Journal of Arid Environments 49:865–874
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
contentswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
- ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). "Chapter 4: Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". In Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). pp. 120–121. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ B. T. Wilder, R. S. Felger, and H. Romero-Morales, 2008, "Succulent plant diversity of the Sonoran Island, Gulf of California", Mexico.Haseltonia, 14:127–160
- ^ H. A. Liogier, (1990),"Plantas medicinales de Puerto Rico y del Caribe" Iberoamericana de Ediciones, 566 pp.
- ^ G. Neson, 1965. The shrubs and woody vines of Florida Pineapple Press 391, pp.
- ^ R. E. Koske, 1988. "Vesicular-Arbuscular Myccorrhizae of some Hawaiian USA Dune Plants Pacific Science 42:217-229