## 5 Conclusions  
As edible halophytes continue to reveal their potential as crops with a role to play in the future of sustainable food production, the conditions for their commercial cultivation must continue to be explored. This is especially true in the context of integrated saline aquaculture where their role could be i) as phytoremediation units that can recover wasted dissolved nutrients and ii) as cash-crops that are nutritional, material and energy sources. By shedding light on the most suitable hydroponic conditions for growing _H. portulacoides_, future halophyte producers can make informed decisions that translate into sustainable and profitable cultures. _Halimione portulacoides_ displayed productivity values at the higher end of those exhibited by other edible halophytes, given that appropriate planting density and nutritional conditions were present. Potential biomass allocation trade-offs should nonetheless be taken into consideration since certain densities can promote undesirable phenotypes. Regarding artificial lighting. _H. portulacoides_ grew similarly under white fluorescent lighting and blue-white LED lighting, suggesting that the LEDs can be more cost-efficient solution given their similar performance and have potentially lower operating costs. Future trials should continue to explore how different LED spectral profiles can improve development and stimulate the accumulation of bioactive compounds to add functional value to halophyte products. It is also crucial to promote the design and engineering of integrated experimental and commercial setups and the standardized reporting of results to allow a more reliable comparison between hydroponics/IMTA studies and provide more robust data to help determine which halophytes are the most suitable for integrated aquaculture frameworks. The following are available online at [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app1114995/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app1114995/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app1114995/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app1114995/s1)), Figure S1: Experimental growth systems with A) fluorescent lights and B) LEDs, Figure S2: Average water A) pH, B) temperature and C) dissolved oxygen, Table S1: Chemical composition of the hydroponic medium. The data generated and presented in this study is made available as supplementary dataset(File S1) in the form of an Excel file, namely growth data, nutrient extraction data and photosynthetic pigments data  
**Author Contributions:** [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] designed the experiment. [PERSON] conducted the growth trials. [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] conducted the laboratory analysis. [PERSON] and [PERSON] analyzed the data. [PERSON] performed the statistical analysis. [PERSON] wrote the manuscript. [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] reviewed the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. **Funding:** The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the financial support to [PERSON] (PD/BD/127990/2016), [PERSON] (CEECIND/01434/2018) and CESAM (UIDB/50017/2020+UIDP/50017/2020). This work was also supported by the Integrated Program of SR&TD \"Smart Valorization of Endogenous Marine Biological Resources Under a Changing Climate\" (reference Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018), co-funded by Centro 2020 program,Portugal 2020 and European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund, and by the project \"AquaMMin--Development and validation of a modular integrated multitrophic aquaculture system for marine and brackish water species\" (MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0038) co-funded by Portugal 2020 and the European Union through Mar 2020, the Operational Programme (OP) for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) in Portugal. **Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable. **Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable. **Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are made available as supplementary material.