Salicornia europaea
{{short description|Species of flowering plant in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae}}
{{Speciesbox
|image=Salicornia europaea MS 0802.JPG
|genus=Salicornia
|species=europaea
|authority=L.
|synonyms_ref={{cite POWO |id=166520-1 |title=Salicornia europaea L. |access-date=14 March 2022 }}
|synonyms={{collapsible list|
- Salicornia annua {{small|Sm.}}
- Salicornia appressa {{small|Dumort.}}
- Salicornia biennis {{small|Afzel. ex Sm.}}
- Salicornia europaea subsp. brachystachya {{small|(G.Mey.) R.Dahmen & Wissk.}}
- Salicornia europaea var. herbacea {{small|L.}}
- Salicornia europaea var. pachystachya {{small|(W.D.J.Koch) Fernald}}
- Salicornia gracillima {{small|Moss}}
- Salicornia herbacea {{small|(L.) L.}}
- Salicornia herbacea var. annua {{small|(Sm.) Pursh}}
- Salicornia herbacea var. pachystachya {{small|W.D.J.Koch}}
- Salicornia herbacea var. ramosissima {{small|Hook.f.}}
- Salicornia intermedia {{small|J.Woods}}
- Salicornia megastachya {{small|J.Woods}}
- Salicornia peregrina {{small|Weinm. ex Ung.-Sternb.}}
- Salicornia radicans {{small|Mert. & W.D.J.Koch}}
- Salicornia ramosissima {{small|(Hook.f.) J.Woods ex W.A.Clarke & E.S.Marshall}}
- Salicornia salsola {{small|Montbret ex Ung.-Sternb.}}
- Salicornia simonkaiana {{small|Soó}}
- Salicornia smithiana {{small|Moss}}
}}}}
Salicornia europaea, known as marsh samphire,{{cite book |author1=Chapman |first=David |title=Exploring the Cornish Coast |date=2008 |publisher=Alison Hodge |isbn=9780906720561 |location=Penzance |page=79}} common glasswort{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17}} or just glasswort, is a halophytic annual dicot flowering plant. Other common names include pickle weed, saltwort, and chicken toe (due to the shape).{{Cite web |title=Glasswort a tasty treat |date=29 August 2017 |url=https://www.mdislander.com/living/glasswort-tasty-treat }} It is a succulent plant with high water content, accounting for its slightly translucent look (the source of the name 'glasswort'). It is found near saline water in Europe and is edible both raw and cooked.
Description
File:Bois des Aresquiers, Vic-la-Gardiole, Hérault 06.jpg, France]]
File:Salicornia europaea-hokkaido-japan.jpg, Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan]]
File:Salicornia europaea baku 2006.jpg, Azerbaijan]]
Glasswort plants are relatively small and have jointed, bright green stems. During the fall, these plants turn red or purple. Their leaves are small and scale like, and they produce fleshy fruits that contain a single seed.
Like most members of the subfamily Salicornioideae, Salicornia species use the C3 carbon fixation pathway to take in carbon dioxide from the surrounding atmosphere.{{Cite journal |author1=Kadereit, G.|author2=Borsch, T.|author3= Weising, K.|author4=Freitag, H. |date=2003 |title=Phylogeny of Amaranthaceae and Chenopodiaceae and the evolution of C4 photosynthesis |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=164 |issue=6 |pages=959–86 |doi=10.1086/378649 |s2cid=83564261}}
Distribution and habitat
It is found on most coastlines in Europe.{{Cite book |last=Francis-Baker |first=Tiffany |title=Concise Foraging Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4729-8474-6 |series=The Wildlife Trusts |location=London |pages=57}}
It grows in various zones of intertidal salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves.{{Cite web |date=8 October 2020 |title=Glasswort-(Salicornia europaea) |url=https://www.greatbay.org/60324-2/}}
Cultivation
Salicornia prefers a light, sandy soil (or a well-drained soil) and a sunny position. Samphire can be planted out once the danger of frosts is past. Salicornia is best watered with a saline solution of 1 teaspoon of sea salt in {{cvt|1|imppt}} of water.{{Cite web |title=How To Sow & Grow Samphire |url=https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/How-To-Sow--Grow-Samphire/}} Salicornia grow best in 200 mM NaCl.{{Cite journal |first1=Behzad Razzaghi |last1=Komaresofla |first2=Hossein Ali |last2=Alikhani |first3=Hassan |last3=Etesami |first4=Nayer Azam |last4=Khoshkholgh-Sima |date=June 2019 |title=Improved growth and salinity tolerance of the halophyte Salicornia sp. by co–inoculation with endophytic and rhizosphere bacteria |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.02.022 |journal=Applied Soil Ecology |volume=138 |pages=160–170 |doi=10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.02.022|s2cid=92401027 }}
In the Northern Hemisphere, the harvesting of samphire shoots takes place from June to August. After that time shoots will become woody. Samphire should be treated as a slow-growing cut-and-come-again crop, with a month elapsing between each cut.
Uses
The ashes of glasswort and saltwort plants (barilla) and of kelp were long used as a source of soda ash (mainly sodium carbonate) for glassmaking and soapmaking.{{cite journal |first1=David J. |last1=Govantes-Edwards |first2=Chloë N. |last2=Duckworth |first3=Ricardo |last3=Córdoba |date=2016 |title=Recipes and experimentation? The transmission of glassmaking techniques in Medieval Iberia |journal=Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=176–195 |doi=10.1080/17546559.2016.1209779|s2cid=163514723 }} The introduction of the Leblanc process for the industrial production of soda ash in the first half of the 19th century superseded the use of plant sources.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
=Culinary=
{{see also|Crithmum}}
S. europaea is edible, either raw or cooked.[https://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Salicornia+europaea "Salicornia europaea"], page of the [https://www.pfaf.org/ Plants for a Future website]. Retrieved July 14, 2007. In the UK, it is one of several plants known as samphire; the term is believed to be a corruption of the French name, herbe de Saint-Pierre, which means "St. Peter's herb".Davidson, Alan (2002). The Penguin Companion To Food (Penguin), p. 828. {{ISBN|978-0-14-200163-9}}. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Completely Revised and Updated (Scribner, New York), p. 317. {{ISBN|978-0-684-80001-1}}.
Samphire is usually cooked, then coated in butter or olive oil. Due to its high salt content, it must be cooked without any salt added, in plenty of water. After cooking, it resembles seaweed in colour, and the flavour and texture are like young spinach stems, asparagus, or artichoke. Samphire is often used as a suitably maritime accompaniment to fish or seafood.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/samphire |title=Food ingredients |publisher=BBC}}
=Pharmacological research=
In South Korea, Phyto Corporation has developed a technology of extracting low-sodium salt from Salicornia europaea, a salt-accumulating plant. The company claims the naturally-derived plant salt is effective in treating high blood pressure and fatty liver disease by reducing sodium intake.{{Cite journal |author=Panth, Nisha|author2= Park, Sin-Hee| author3= Kim, Hyun| author4=Kim, Deuk-Hoi|author5=Oak, Min-Ho |date=2016 |title=Protective Effect of Salicornia europaea Extracts on High Salt Intake-Induced Vascular Dysfunction and Hypertension |journal=International Journal of Molecular Sciences |volume=17 |issue=7 |pages=1176 |doi=10.3390/ijms17071176 |pmid=27455235 |pmc=4964547 |doi-access=free}} The company has also developed a desalted Salicornia powder containing antioxidative and antithrombus polyphenols, claimed to be effective in treating obesity and arteriosclerosis, as well as providing a means to help resolve global food shortages.{{Cite journal |last=Rahman|first=Md. Mahbubur|author2= Kim, Myung-Jin| author3= Kim, Jin-Hyoung|author4 = Kim, Sok-Ho |author5= Go, Hyeon-Kyu|author6= Kweon, Mee-Hyang|author7= Kim, Do-Hyung |date=2018 |title=Desalted Salicornia europaea powder and its active constituent, trans-ferulic acid, exert anti-obesity effects by suppressing adipogenic-related factors |journal=Pharmaceutical Biology |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=183–191 |doi=10.1080/13880209.2018.1436073 |pmid=29521146 |pmc=6130585}}
=Environmental uses=
Salicornia europaea is a new candidate plant species for using in effective phytoremediation of cadmium-contaminated saline soils.{{Cite journal |author=Ozawa, T.|author2=Miura, M. |author3=Fukuda, M.|author4=Kakuta, S. |date=2009 |title=Cadmium tolerance and accumulation in a halophyte Salicornia europaea as a new candidate for phytoremediation of saline soils. |journal=Scientific Report of the Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University |volume=60 |pages=1–8}}