Halophytes of Chenopodiaceae and Aizoaceae from South-East Coast of India as Potential Sources of Essential Nutrients and Antioxidants

In this study, we assessed the antioxidant efficacy and nutritional value of the halophytic plants in order to find possible sources for future novel antioxidants in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical formulations. The lyophilized samples of the five tropical halophytes (Chenopodiaceae and Aizoaceae), namely, Salicornia brachiata, Arthrocnemum indicum, Suaeda maritima, Suaeda monoica, and Sesuvium portulacastrum from the southeast coast of India were analyzed for total digestible protein, amino acid and fatty acid composition using spectrophotometric, HPLC and GC methods, respectively. The aqueous and ethyl acetate extracts of these samples were studied for its free radical scavenging activity using DPPH. radical scavenging assay and total phenolic content (mg GAE/g) using Folin–Ciocalteu method. Protein content of S. brachiata (4.6 g/100g) and S. maritima (4.0 g/100g) were higher than that of others. A good ratio of essential/ non-essential (E/NE) amino acids in all species (>1.0) indicated them as sources of well balanced and high-quality proteins. High DHA (1.33%) and EPA (1.26%) in S. maritima resulted in having a higher n-3:n-6 ratio (0.24) than in other halophytes (0.09-0.16). The PUFA/ SFA ratio was found to be significantly higher in S. brachiata (1.16) due to high 18:2n-6 (16.9%) and 18:3n-6 (21.9%) (p < 0.05), suggesting its ability to thrive under stress conditions, which was supported by the high phenolic contents (557 mg GAE/g) and antioxidant activity against DPPH radical (IC50 0.90 mg/mL) of its EtOAc extract. The presence of high titer of amino acids, fatty acids, nutritional antioxidants (phenolics) and free radical quenching potential of these underutilized species indicate their potential towards human health applications