Journal of Global Ecology and Environment

Halophytes, being salt-tolerant plants, are capable of thriving in extreme saline conditions. Some of these species have demonstrated the ability to accumulate heavy metals, offering a potential solution to heavy metal contamination in saline ecosystems. Halophytic species have considerable potential for use in phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated saline habitats. Their natural tolerance to harsh conditions and ability to absorb and sequester toxic metals make them valuable assets in environmental restoration initiatives. Hence, in this study attempts were made to evaluate the accumulation of heavy metals like Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Cu from leaves or phylloclade’s of succulent halophytes species collected from 8 different habitats along south waste coast of Gujarat. Fe varied from 171 to 850 mg.kg^-1; Mn between 113 to 398.33 mg.kg^-1; Ni between 15 to 266 mg.kg^-1; Zn between 14.33 to 100 mg.kg^-1 and Cu from 2.33 to 14 mg.kg^-1, in phylloclades of Salicornia brachiata, Roxb. and in leaves of Suaeda nudiflora, (Willd.) Moq., and Sesuvium portulacastrum, (L.) Linn. The present results reflected that succulent halophytes accumulate higher concentration of metals than their threshold values (Mn <50 mg kg^-1; Cu <40 mg kg^-1; Fe 644 mg kg^-1 and Zn 63 mg kg^-1). A common trend was observed for similar order of heavy metals accumulation as Fe > Mn > Ni > Zn > Cu in their phylloclades or leaves. The substantial accumulation of these metals suggests the potential of these succulent halophytes for phytoremediation, particularly phytoextraction or phytostabilization, in the metal-contaminated saline ecosystems of the region.