Salicornia europaea L. (fam. Chenopodiaceae) Plants as Possible Constituent of Bioregenerative Life Support Systems’ Phototrophic Link

Abstract

The work is devoted to investigation of productivity, biochemical and mineral composition of Salicornia europaea grown under intensive light culture conditions as applied to bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS). Furthermore influence of amide form of nitrogen on plants growth is investigated in the work. Biochemical composition of the Salicornia europaea edible part showed that raw protein was contained in the highest degree. The water-soluble sugars content and the polysaccharides number (except cellulose) were not high in the Salicornia europaea edible part. It was shown that the plants lipids are characterized by a high unsaturation degree mainly due to alpha linolenic and linoleic acids. Nitrogen nutrition form did not significantly affect the Salicornia europaea productivity. Sodium and its concentrations predominated in the plants mineral composition. Hence Salicornia europaea vegetable plants not only contribute to involvement of sodium chloride in BLSS matter turnover, but also can be the source of several biochemical substances and essential fatty acids for a human.