• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.483-491
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• 2011

Harvesting of marshfire glasswort (Salicornia europaea) by local people has been increased recently since this plant was known for a well-being food. Even though some harvesting sites are facing high risk of environmental pollution, Salicornia europaea is still harvested on a large scale. Therefore, to investigate safety of Salicornia europaea as a food resource, salt marsh environment, potential harvestable biomass, element and heavy metal accumulations in Salicornia europaea has been studied in three salt marshes, west-coast of Korea. Salicornia europaea showed 150 - 230$g/m^2/yr$ harvestable biomass. Biomass and nitrogen contents of Salicornia europaea were closely related to soil nitrogen and carbon concentrations. Average Na, Zn, Fe, Cr accumulations in Salicornia europaea were 41479, 18, 297, 1.5 (mg/kg), indicating valuable trace element contents. However, average heavy metal accumulations such as As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg accumulations were 1.5, 7.1, 4.2, 1.5, 0.1 (mg/kg), which were even or higher than national standards (0.5, 0.5, 2, 2, 0.1) of salts. These results imply that harvesting and eating of Salicornia europaea in west-coast research sites would be harmful because the contents would be much higher if it is calculated as only considering salts and minerals. Therefore, harvesting of Salicornia europaea from some salt marsh in west-coast of Korea should be done cautiously.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.181-188
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• 2012

Salicornia europaea (glasswort) is succulent, annual, halophytic plant mainly distributed throughout reclaimed land or salt marsh. It has strong tolerance to salt so that it plays the part of the pioneer species in the first succession. According to domestic and foreign studies, S. europaea contains plenty of minerals and antioxidant in the body. Since people take note of an availableness of this plant as health diet, the natural growth sites are threatened. In addition to development of salt marsh and sea shore, imprudent harvest has a bad effect to S. europaea population maintenance. To seek ways to preserve the population of this plant, we carried out the continuity of seed germination and restoration test. Seokmo Island, Daebu Island, Youngjong Island and Sudokwon landfill in Korea are selected sites for research. Result of germination continuity shows that most S. europaea seeds germinate on March but no more after July. However the germination was occurred after that time in the greenhouse. So we concluded that no germination after July is a matter of environmental condition not the number of remaining seeds. Also germination was seldom occurred in the spot where seeds production was not happened. In result of continuity test of seed germination by soil depth, germination was occurred vigorously only in top soil. From these results, we note that most S. europaea germinate in the early spring, and germination is finished by July. And this rapid germination speed makes the number of seeds in soil seed bank rare. If a large number of S. europaea in some area are harvested after July, the number of this species will dramatically decrease in that area the following year. In Seokmo Island, we carried out reintroduction experiment by sowing S. europaea seeds. On the first year, a small number of S. europaea settled and they produced seeds successfully. On April 2010, the second year, we observed many S. europaea in seed sowing sites. And we found out that plowing is more efficient than treatment sea water for settlement of S. europaea.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.295-303
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• 2020

We investigated the growth response and population regeneration of four halophyte species: Suaeda japonica, Salicornia europaea, Suaeda maritima and Suaeda glauca, when climate change proceeds caused by increased CO₂ concentration and temperature. The plants collected from habitat in 2018 were transplanted into Wagner pots, and cultivated for two years in greenhouse divided into a control (ambient condition) and a treatment (elevated CO₂+elevated temperature). The shoot length of halophytes was measured in July of each year, and the population regeneration rate was measured in October 2019. The shoot lengths of S. japonica and S. glauca had no difference between control and treatment for two years. Those of S. europaea were longer in control than treatment for two years. Those of S. maritima had no difference between control and treatment in 2018 but were longer in control than treatment in 2019. In control, the shoot lengths of S. japonica, S. europaea and S. glauca had no difference between years while those of S. maritima were longer in 2018 than in 2019. In treatment, those of S. japonica, S. europaea and S. maritima were shorter in 2019 than 2018 but S. glauca had no difference between years. The regeneration rates of S. japonica, S. europaea and S. glauca were lower treatment than control, and there was no difference in the regeneration rate of S. maritima. In conclusion, if climate change progresses caused by the increase of CO₂ concentration and temperature, the shoot lengths of S. japonica, S. europaea and S. maritima will be shortened, and the regeneration rate of population will be increased only in the S. maritima.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.309-313
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• 2008

In a cultivated field of Salicornia europae in the Jeonam Province, Korea, Scrobipalpa salinella (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) which feeds and leads to a serious damage was found. The discovery of this species is to reconfirm its distribution in Korea because the first report by Park and Ponomarenko (2006) was based on a single female and it was collected in a montane area far from seaside where its host plants, halophytes, are planted. For identification, photos of imago and genitalia are given, and the damage by larvae on Salicornia europae are noted.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2012

Salt marsh is an important transitional zone among terrestrial, riverine, and marine ecosystems and is a productive habitat that interacts extensively with adjacent landscape elements of estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Nowadays, in addition to various human activities, a variety of natural processes induce changes in salt marshes. This study aims to provide background information to restore disturbed salt marshes and to propose their ecological restoration using seed banks. The study area is a prepared area for the Gwangyang Container Port located in the southern Korea. This area was formed by accumulating mud soils dredged from the bottom of the forward sea. This land was created in a serial process of preparing the Gwangyang container port and the salt marsh was passively restored by seeds buried in mud soil dredged from seabed. As a result of stand ordination based on vegetation data collected from the land, stands were arranged according to tolerance to salinity in the order of $Suaeda$ $maritima$, $Salicornia$ $europaea$, and $Phragmites$ $communis$ communities on the Axis 1. Landscape structure of the projected area was analyzed as well. Edges of the projected area were divided from the marginal waterway by the dike. Four types of vegetation appeared on the dike: $Alnus$ $firma$ plantation, $Robinia$ $pseudoacacia$ plantation, $Lespedeza$ $cyrtobotrya$ plantation, and grassland. In the more internal areas, two types of vegetation sequences appeared: $Aster$ $tripolium$ community-$Suaeda$ $glauca$ community-$Salicornia$ $europaea$ community sequence and $Aster$ $tripolium$ community-$Suaeda$ $maritima$ community-$S.$ $europaea$ community sequence. Mixed community showed the highest species diversity (H' = 0.86) and $S.$ $europaea$ community showed the lowest (H' = 0.0). Evenness is the highest in Mixed community (J' = 2.26) and the lowest in $S.$ $maritime-S.$ $europaea$ community (J' = 0.0). Several plant communities were successfully established on the land created by mud soil dredged from the bottom of Gwangyang Bay. Moreover, community diversity in this area approached a similar level with those from other studies involving natural salt marshes. Therefore, restoration effect based on community diversity obtained in our study can be evaluated as a successful achievement. In this respect, although most salt marshes in Korea and other places worldwide have been destroyed or disturbed by excessive land use, feasibility of seed bank as a restoration tool is greatly expected.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.40-46
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to measure and compare polyphenol content, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity of six halophytes (Limonium tetragonum, Suaeda glauca, Suaeda japonica, Salicornia europaea, Triglochin maritimum, and Sonchus brachyotus). Depending on the total polyphenol content, the plants were categorized into two groups: (1) a high total polyphenol content group that included L. tetragonum, S. brachyotus, and S. europaea, and, (2) a low total polyphenol content group consisting of S. glauca, T. maritima, and S. japonica. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays, and by measuring ROS. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by measuring NO and $PGE_2$. L. tetragonum and S. brachyotus, that have high polyphenol content, also showed strong antioxidant activity. In addition, L. tetragonum, S. brachyotus, and S. europaea showed good anti-inflammatory activity. Consequently, the total polyphenol content was thought to be related to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Therefore, S. brachyotus and L. tetragonum are good candidates for use in pharmaceuticals and functional foods.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.475-480
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• 2009

These studies were carried out to find the effect of packing materials and storage temperature to enhance the storability of Salicornia europaea. The fresh weight loss was less than 2% at below $10^{\circ}C$ and non-perforated package, but $25^{\circ}C$ and perforated package treatment showed more than 4% of fresh weight loss that result to deteriorate quality. The carbon dioxide and oxygen contents remained 1~2% and above 15% in non-perforated package, and these contents were in proportion to gas permeability of packing materials. All the temperature treatments except 25c showed rapidly increasing ethylene concent from 7days after storage, and the highest ethylene content was $2^{\circ}C$ treatment that should appear chilling injury. The off-odor and deterioration ratio were lowest in $5^{\circ}C$ among the temperature treatments and $50{\mu}m$ thickness ceramic film treatment at $5^{\circ}C$ storage, while packing materials did not show any trends among the temperature treatments. The shelf life based on visual quality showed highest in $50{\ss}|$ thickness ceramic film packing and $5^{\circ}C$ treatment, and that was 28days.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.658-665
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• 2017

The current study was performed to investigate the changes of bio-activities of Salicornia europaea (SE) depending on the different dry methods. The ethanol extracts were prepared from the freeze-drying SE (FD), hot-air drying SE (HD), and shade drying SE (SD). Their anti-oxidant and anti-thrombosis activities were compared. The yields of ethanol extraction in FD, HD, and SD were 14.4, 13.2 and 11.9%, respectively. The highest contents of total polyphenol (4.6 mg/g) and total sugar (23.4 mg/g) were shown in FD, whereas, the highest content of reducing sugar (14.6 mg/g) was observed in HD. In anti-oxidation activity assay, the FD and HD showed similar radical scavenging activities and reducing power. However, in SD, nitrite scavenging activity and reducing power were severely decreased. In anti-coagulation activity assay, the thrombin time (TT), prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) of FD, HD and SD did not show significant changes at 5 mg/mL concentration. But the HD at 7 mg/mL had strong inhibitions against thrombin and blood coagulation factors. The platelet aggregation and hemolysis activities were not affected by dry methods. Our results suggest that both FD and HD are effective to maintain the functional ingredient of SE, and HD is economic and efficient dry process for production of functional food.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.289-300
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• 2009

Flora distribution was surveyed in the newly reclaimed tidal flats in the west coastal area in Korea to understand changes in flora dynamics after reclamation. The surveyed reclaimed tidal flats were the newly reclaimed tidal flat in Hangdam, the mid Kyonggi Bay in 2002, and three reclaimed lands in Seukmun and Daeho, Chungnam, and Hangdam in Kyonggi Bay, of which reclamation years based on embankment were 7, 9 and 18 years, respectively. In the newly reclaimed tidal flat, the dominant flora was Suaeda japonica and other florae were rare, while various halophytes and glycophytes were distributed in the reclaimed lands. On the newly reclaimed tidal flat, four species of halophytic pioneer florae, Salicornia europaea, Suaeda glauca, Suaeda japonica, and Suaeda maritime occurred, and along with age facultative halophyte and glycophyte occurred sequently. On the reclaimed lands, the florae were more complex with various facultative halophyte and glycophyte, so these were predominated rather than pioneer halophyte, while one of pioneer halophyte that Suaeda japonica was not occurred. Increasing of various facultative halophyte and glycophyte, and decreasing of pioneer halophyte indicated that flora changed toward to increase of facultative halophyte and glycophyte by aged after reclamation. On the newly reclaimed tidal flat the ratio of flora species changed rapidly with the invasion of plant. This implied that the flora had begun to change in the early stage of reclamation. Facultative halophyte and glycophyte started to increase on the early stage of reclamation but relative density and frequency of pioneer halophyte was higher than facultative halophyte and glycophyte. According to the investigation up to 3 years after reclamation, pioneer halophyte predominated on it. Although flora changed, there were common representative halophytes among the reclaimed tidal flats: Salicornia europaea, Suaeda maritima, and Suaeda glauca as pioneer halophyte, Aster tripolium, Sonchus brachyotus, and Phragmites communis as facultative halophytes.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.452-460
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• 2016

This study was designed to develop a functional pharma-food using Salicornia europaea (SE). Tiny seeds from the mature SE were collected, and their biological activities were evaluated. The extraction yield of the seed in hot water was found to be 29.6% and the hot water extract (HWE) contained 25.7 mg/g total polyphenol (TP) and 11.5 mg/g total flavonoid (TF), which are similar to those contained in leaf and stem of SE. Among the subsequent organic solvent fractions, the ethylacetate (EA) fraction exhibited the highest content of TP (158.3 mg/g), TF (136.2 mg/g), and total sugar (228.3 mg/g). The EA fraction exhibited broad-range antibacterial activities against gram-positive bacteria, and the butanol fraction exhibited growth inhibitory effect against only Staphylococcus epidermidis. An antioxidation activity assay of the HWE and its fractions showed the EA fraction to have the highest radical scavenging activity with $RC_{50}$ values of 57.0, 29.0, and $28.9{\mu}g/ml$ against DPPH anion, ABTS cation, and nitrite, respectively. The $RC_{50}$ values of vitamin C against DPPH anion, ABTS cation, and nitrite were 10.7, 4.0, and $18.0{\mu}g/ml$, respectively, indicating that the EA fraction of SE has potent antioxidant compounds. In an anticoagulation assay, the EA fraction exhibited a 15-fold extended thrombin time at 5 mg/ml and activated partial thromboplastin time at 7 mg/ml, which are comparable to the activities of aspirin. The HWE and its fractions had no hemolysis activities against human RBCs at up to 1 mg/ml. These results suggest that the EA fraction from SE has a great potential as a new antibacterial and anticoagulation agent.