Halophytes Present New Opportunities in Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals and Saline Soils

Abstract

A more efficient performance of several basic biochemical tolerance mechanisms provides an advantage to halophytes with respect to several environmental factors including heavy metals. Therefore, halophytes have been suggested to be naturally better adapted to cope with environmental stresses, such as heavy metals compared to salt-sensitive crop plants commonly chosen for phytoremediation purposes, and, thus, offer a greater potential for phytoremediation research for the decontamination of heavy metal polluted soils. Research findings suggest that halophytes are ideal candidates for phytoextraction, phytostabilization, or phytoexcretion of heavy metal polluted saline and nonsaline soils, while recent findings encourage the use of salt-accumulating halophytes for soil desalination in arid and semiarid regions.