Search

Halophytes are naturally salt-tolerant plants with immense potential to become alternate crops for saline lands. While their economic benefits have gained increasing attention, often, the roles of halophytes in addressing different climate change-related issues are overlooked. Halophytes can be a renewable resource for clean 'carbon-neutral' energy by serving as biofuel or biogas feedstock, help in the sequestration of rising CO2 as well as the phytoremediation of various pollutants, can be a good source of food and fodder thereby help in achieving food security in arid/saline areas, can help in protection and biodiversity conservation in various ecosystems, and can provide livelihood to poor local communities inhabiting barren lands. This review also attempts to highlight various usages of halophytes in connection with a global change perspective. However, there are still many challenges such as economic viability, customer preferences, environmental impacts, and scale-up challenges, which need further research, innovation, effective policies, and collaboration. In general, this review provides a synthesis of various biological, environmental, and socioeconomic aspects of halophytes to fully exploit the potential of halophytes for human welfare and combating global climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haloxylon stocksii is a succulent halophyte with high potential to become edible-oil and medicinal crop for the arid-saline lands. Studies about germination ecology and mechanisms of salinity tolerance during vegetative stage of this plant exist. However, information about longevity and biochemical changes in H. stocksii seeds during storage is absent. This study thus examined longevity, and physio-chemical attributes of the H. stocksii seeds under different storage conditions. Fresh seeds were non-dormant with ∼96% germination in water. Storage of seeds for four months had little effect on their germination in most conditions. However, storage for 8 or 12 months caused a complete germination inhibition in laboratory and field respectively. Seed moisture increased with the storage time and was positively correlated with mortality. Antioxidant activity of the seeds increased with time in all conditions, which however was inadequate to prevent oxidative damage as hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxidation levels increased, especially with >4 months of storage. Hence, these data indicate the short longevity of the H. stocksii seeds resulting from moisture-induced oxidative damages during storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]