## 3 Results and Discussion
### Bread Characterization
#### 3.2.5 Mineral Composition  
The mineral composition of control, B50 and B100 breads is presented in Table 5. The control (CB) and B100 samples were prepared with the same amount of sodium (0.47%, flour basis) but obtained from different sources, respectively, sodium chloride and _S. perennis_ powder and B50 was prepared with half of sodium (0.235%, flour basis), obtained from _S. perennis_ powder. As observed in Table 5, the content of sodium in control (CB) and B100 bread was similar while the value was reduced to around half (339.01 mg/100 g) to B50. In addition, the incorporation of halophyte powder in bread increased their potassium content, which, along with the sodium, regulates the fluid balance in the human body. The ratio of sodium to potassium intake is a greater risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular diseases than either electrolyte alone. Higher intakes of potassium can attenuate the adverse effects of sodium on blood pressure [40]. Thus, the consumption of bread with incorporation of _S. perennis_ powder allows a balanced of potassium and sodium electrolytes in human body, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disorders, such as high blood pressure. Moreover, the sodium and potassium present in bread are from natural source and not added as salts. Regarding the other minerals, the addition of halophyte powder led to a significant increase of this macro and micronutrients, particularly in B100 bread sample (Table 5). According to regulation [33] the bread samples can be considered products with a significant amount of calcium, phosphor, iron, and manganese since minerals, per 100 g, are higher than 15% of recommended daily allowances. In addition, the incorporation of _S. perennis_ powder can also contribute to increasing the antioxidant activity of bread, maintaining (B100) or even reducing to half (B50) the sodium content, as compared with control bread (CB). [PERSON] et al. [23] referred that, compared with control, the incorporation of 5% of _S. perennis_ into cracker led to a significant increase in total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. In fact, halophyte Sarcoma species usually have a high phenolic content as part of their antioxidant defense mechanism. The main compounds of _Sarcomenia ambigua_ are phenolic acids such as ferulic, caffeic, vanillic and p-coumaric and flavonols (kaempferol and galangin) [41]. _S. perennis_ collected in Portugal, Southern and Tejo estuary have a high phenolic content (ranged from 15.79 mg GAE/g, dw) and 20.5 mg GAE/g, dw) and high antioxidant capacity (58.49 mg Trolox/g, dw) [23,25]. Thus, the incorporation of the halophyte in bread can promote health benefits not only due to the reduction of salt but also to the increase of its bioactive compounds. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Mineral** & **CB** & **B50** & **B100** \\ \hline Na & 613.40 \(\pm\) 11.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 339.01 \(\pm\) 5.38 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 643.65 \(\pm\) 14.08 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ K & 152.43 \(\pm\) 6.71 & 195.63 \(\pm\) 2.54 & 243.71 \(\pm\) 2.36 \\ Ca & 393.27 \(\pm\) 15.29 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 401.09 \(\pm\) 1.90 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 444.11 \(\pm\) 4.96 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ P & 370.04 \(\pm\) 7.53 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 379.53 \(\pm\) 5.97 \({}^{\text{a,b}}\) & 397.66 \(\pm\) 1.71 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Mg & 40.28 \(\pm\) 4.75 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 48.80 \(\pm\) 1.18 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 68.81 \(\pm\) 5.03 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Fe & 3.26 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 4.87 \(\pm\) 0.23 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 5.52 \(\pm\) 0.27 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Zn & 0.89 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.99 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.00 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ Cu & 0.33 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.43 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.37 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\ Mn & 0.92 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.01 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\text{a,b}}\) & 1.10 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Different lowercase letters correspond to significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) between bread samples.  
\end{table}