as salty in taste as table salt, but with less sodium. Pharmacological research In South Korea, Phyto Corporation has developed a technology of extracting low-sodium salt from S. europaea, a salt-accumulating plant. The company claims that the naturally derived plant salt is effective in treating high blood pressure and fatty liver disease by reducing sodium intake. The company has also developed a desalted Salicornia powder containing antioxidative and antithrombus polyphenols, claimed to be effective in treating obesity and arteriosclerosis, as well as providing a means to help resolve global food shortages. Environmental uses Pickleweed is used in phytoextraction. It is highly effective at removing selenium from soil, which is absorbed by the plant and then released into the atmosphere to be dispersed by prevailing winds. Pickleweed (S. bigelovii) has been found to have average volatilization rates 10–100 times higher than other species. Industrial use Historical The ashes of glasswort and saltwort plants and of kelp were long used as a source of soda ash (mainly sodium carbonate) for glassmaking and soapmaking. The introduction of the LeBlanc process for industrial production of soda ash superseded the use of plant sources in the first half of the 19th century. Umari keerai is used as raw material in paper and board factories. Contemporary Because S. bigelovii can be grown using saltwater and its seeds contain high levels of unsaturated oil (30 wt. %, mostly linoleic acid) and protein (35 wt. %), it can be used to produce animal feedstuff and as a biofuel feedstock on coastal land where conventional crops cannot be grown. Adding nitrogen-based fertiliser to the seawater appears to increase the rate of growth and the eventual height of the plant, and the effluent from marine aquaculture (e.g. shrimp farming) is a suggested use for this purpose. Experimental fields of Salicornia have been planted in Ras al-Zawr (Saudi Arabia), Eritrea (northeast Africa) and Sonora (northwest Mexico) aimed at the production of biodiesel. The company responsible for the Sonora trials (Global Seawater) claims between 225 and 250 gallons of BQ-9000 biodiesel can be produced per hectare (approximately 2.5 acres) of salicornia, and is promoting a $35 million scheme to create a salicornia farm in Bahia de Kino. Stems and roots of S. brachiata plants have a high cellulose content (ca. 30 wt. %), whereas tender stem tips exhibit a low cellulose content (9.2 wt. %). S. brachiata revealed the dominance of rhamnose,