Polar lipidome profiling of Salicornia ramosissima and Halimione portulacoides and the relevance of lipidomics for the valorization of halophytes.

Some halophytes are currently used as gourmet plant ingredients for human consumption. The polar lipidome of the succulent organs of Salicornia ramosissima (fresh branch tips) and Halimione portulacoides (leaves) were characterized in-depth, with more than two hundred lipid species being identified in both halophytes. The lipid species identified were distributed over five classes of phospholipids, three classes of glycolipids and one class of glycosphingolipids. Despite the existence of some species-specific differences between the polar lipidome, phospholipids and glycolipids show a high content of n-3 fatty acids in both S. ramosissima and H. portulacoides. These results highlights the advantage of employing mass spectrometry based lipidomic platform towards the valorization of halophytes as a source of valuable nutrients and bioactives, fostering potential applications in the fields of healthy and functional food products, and for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical uses.