Qualitative and quantitative study on the seed oil of Salicornia herbacea L. and Suaeda fruticosa (L.) Forssk.as a source of edible oil

Given the extent of saline lands in Iran, cultivation and utilization of halophytes and salt tolerant species under the condition that both water and soil are saline could be a viable option in production and extraction of vegetable oils from halophytes and salt tolerant species. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of Suaeda fruticosa (L.) Forssk. and Salicornia herbacea L. as a source of edible oil as well as qualitative and quantitative analysis of the oil. For this purpose, the seeds of Suaeda fruticosa and Salicornia herbacea were collected from saline soils of Garmsar and Kal-e Shur Desert Research Station. In this study, a random sampling was done by replicated plots. The extraction of fatty acids was performed by solvent in Soxhlet method, and GC was used to analyze the fatty acids. The average oil yield was calculated to be 30.76 and 13.88% in Suaeda fruticosa and Salicornia herbacea, respectively. According to the results, in both species, palmitic acid and linoleic acid were identified as the major saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, respectively. Our data clearly indicate that the seeds of halophyte Suaeda fruticosa could be used as a source of oil for human consumption.