## 3 Results and Discussion
### Nutritional Characterization
In Table 2, the values obtained for the fresh and dried plants studied are summarized. Sodium is known to be the most abundant macro-element in halophyte plants, including the _Salicornia_ species, and its concentration increases with the increase of the cultivation media's salinity [10; 43]. The mineral composition of oven-dried _S. ramossissima_ was lower than the one previously reported for the same species collected in a different region in Portugal, which was dried in an oven at 40 \({}^{\circ}\)C [7]. The sodium, potassium, zinc, and copper contents from _S. ramossissima_ were not significantly affected by the drying process used but a reduction in the levels of iron and calcium occurred when the plant was dried using the oven process (Table 2). Similar results were reported when _Sarcocornia fruitsosa_[48] was oven-dried. The genus _Salicornia_ is defined as a metal accumulator plant that is capable of accumulating and tolerating high pollutant concentrations from salt marshes [5; 49], including heavy metals, leading to potential impacts on human health and safety [24]. Therefore, according to the Recommendation (EU) 2018/464/2018, it is necessary to monitor the heavy metals and iodine and establish their maximum limit levels in seaweed and halophyte plants. Regarding heavy metals, the fresh _S. ramossissima_ presented levels of lead and cadmium below 0.3 and 0.2 mg/kg fw, respectively, notably the maximum content allowed by Regulation (EU) number 1881/2006 for leaf vegetables. Similarly, arsenic levels in the  
\begin{table} \begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Sample** & **Fresh** & **Oven-Dried** & **Freeze-Dried** \\  & **(fw)** & **(dw)** & **(dw)** \\ \hline _Macro-elements (mg/g) \({}^{ab}\)_ & & & \\ Sodium (Na) & 22.50 \(\pm\) 2.90 & 147.01 \(\pm\) 14.85 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & 114.02 \(\pm\) 19.11 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ Calcium (Ca) & 0.32 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.237 \(\pm\) 0.003 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) & 0.312 \(\pm\) 0.002 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ Potassium (K) & 1.05 \(\pm\) 0.22 & 0.409 \(\pm\) 0.003 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & 0.411 \(\pm\) 0.002 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ _Micro-elements (mg/g) \({}^{ab}\)_ & & & \\ Iron (Fe) & 37.00 \(\pm\) 0.5 & 45.025 \(\pm\) 0.347 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) & 73.145 \(\pm\) 0.442 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ Manganese (Mn) & 2.30 \(\pm\) 0.32 & 4.581 \(\pm\) 0.104 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & 2.830 \(\pm\) 0.056 \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \\ Zinc (Zn) & 6.20 \(\pm\) 0.90 & 14.249 \(\pm\) 0.143 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & 13.727 \(\pm\) 0.094 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ Copper (Cu) & 1.20 \(\pm\) 0.10 & 2.507 \(\pm\) 0.045 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & 2.270 \(\pm\) 0.037 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ Selenium (Se) & \textless{0.02 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} & \textless{0.02 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} & \textless{0.02 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} \\ Iodine (I) & \textless{0.13 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} & \textless{0.03 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} & \textless{0.03 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} \\ \hline _Heavy metals (rg/g) \({}^{ab}\)_ & & & \\ Arsenic (As) & 0.15 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 0.264 \(\pm\) 0.015 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & 0.273 \(\pm\) 0.019 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ Cadmium (Cd) & 0.010\(\pm\) 0.001 & \textless{0.10 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} & \textless{0.10 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} \\ Mercury (Hg) & \textless{0.03 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} & \textless{0.03 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} & \textless{0.03 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\)} \\ Lead (Pb) & 0.18 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.525 \(\pm\) 0.028 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & 1.508 \(\pm\) 0.037 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) (LOD, limit of detection \(\mathrm{\mathrm{\mathrm{\mathrm{\mathrm{\mathrm{missing  
fresh and dried _S. ramossissima_ are lower than the maximum levels allowed in certain foods by Commission Regulation (EU) number 2015/1006 (0.2 mg/kg fw). Selenium, iodine, and heavy metals such as Cd and Hg were below the detection limit of the method of analysis in the dried plants analyzed (Table 2). Oven-drying has been accepted as an important method of preservation, especially when taking into consideration the lower cost when compared to the freeze-drying process.