# Sea Purslane as an Emerging Food Crop: Nutritional and Biological Studies
## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Nutritional Composition  
The _H. portulacoides_ plant can become important for application in new food products due to its nutritional composition and health-beneficial properties. Table 1 shows the average values of the main chemical components for sea purslane grown in Figueira da Foz (Portugal), expressed in raw and dry matter. The moisture content of wild _H. portulacoides_ evaluated in this work was 78.03 g/100 g. However, the moisture content of the same plant growing in hydroponics conditions was reported as being around 90% [9]. In general, halophyte plants such as _H. portulacoides_ have higher ash contents than other edible plants. As an example, _Sarcocornia ambigua_ has an ash content of 24.98% (dry matter) [33], contrasting with _Sarcocornia preemitis_ (43.62%, dry matter) [2], _Arthrocenium macrostachyum_ (31.6%, dry matter), and _Salicornia ramsissima_ (29.2%, dry matter) [4]. The ash content is related to the total concentration of minerals. Therefore, the high concentration of ash observed in these sea plants is probably related to their ability to retain the minerals of the seasonal saline soils [4]. The total mineral content (ash) of sea purslane leaves (27.70%, dry matter) was very similar to that reported by [PERSON] et al. (around 28%, dry matter), which were both collected in salt marses [34]. Sea purslane that grows in saline hydroponic conditions, with different nutrient solutions, presented a leaf mineral content of 36.67% (dry weight) [9]. Plants have a variety of lipids with important biological functions involving plant metabolism. These lipids play structural and signaling roles that are significant in the metabolic regulation, protection, and homeostasis of the cell [13]. The lipid content extractable with petroleum ether was 0.46 g/100 g of raw matter. [PERSON] et al. [9] reported that the lipid content in leaves was 0.33 g/100 g, and in another study, the same author presented values in the range 0.74-0.94 g/100 g [3]. The lipids in plants act as signalers, energy storage compounds, and hydrophobic barriers for the membrane [35]. In human health, lipids are essential for promoting the absorption \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Composition** & **Raw Matter** & **Dry Matter** \\ \hline Energy (kcal/100 g) & 48.03 \(\pm\) 0.06 & 218.59 \(\pm\) 0.30 \\ Moisture (g/100 g) & 78.03 \(\pm\) 0.01 & - \\ Ash (g/100 g) & 6.09 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 27.70 \(\pm\) 0.09 \\ Dietary fiber (g/100 g) & 8.90 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 40.49 \(\pm\) 0.06 \\ Crude fiber (g/100 g) & 4.54 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 20.64 \(\pm\) 0.07 \\ Protein (g/100 g) & 2.08 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 9.47 \(\pm\) 0.07 \\ Lipids (g/100 g) & 0.46 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 2.07 \(\pm\) 0.05 \\ Carbohydrates \({}^{*}\) (g/100 g) & 4.45 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 20.26 \(\pm\) 0.06 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{*}\)excluding fiber.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Nutritional composition of _Halminione portulacoides_. of some vitamins and helping build some tissues [36]. [PERSON] et al. (2018) presented nineteen different fatty acids in _H. portulacoides_ leaves characterized by a high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (approximately 60%) and omega-3 (n-3) (approximately 45%). The percentage of saturated fatty acids (SFA) was around 27%, and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) represented approximately 12%. In addition, it was referred that the first and second most abundant SFA were C18:3 (n-3) (approximately 43.5%) and C16:0 (19.2%), respectively. The MUFA fatty acid present in the highest amount was C18:1 (n-9)--oleic acid (approximately 10%). The ratio of n-6/n-3 fatty acids (0.32) and the presence of phospholipids and glycolipids of high biological value [13] increase the nutritional value of sea purslane, enabling it to be used as gourmet food with potential health benefits. Leaves' protein content, 9.47 g/100 g of dry matter, was similar to values reported for halophyte plants such as Sarcocornia perennis subsp. alipini (8.10 g/100 g) and _Sarcocornia perennis_ subsp. perennis (6.90 g/100 g) [4].