KARACHI: ‘Use of halophytes can reduce edible oil import bill’
By Faiza Ilyas
KARACHI, Nov 17: Pakistan can significantly reduce its edible oil import bill by investing in the cultivation of indigenous seed-bearing halophytes which are found abundantly in the country and can be grown in brackish water or seawater. According to a laboratory analysis, their oil quality is comparable with the conventional edible oils such as those extracted from Sunflower and Canola seeds.
Dr Bilquees Gul, Assistant Professor at the University of Karachi’s Botany Department and principal investigator of the seed oil project at the Institute for Sustainable Halophyte Utilisation (ISHU), KU, shared this information in an interview with Dawn.
Shedding light on the significance of halophytes, she said that the plant species known for their high tolerance to salinity had become a major focus of research throughout the world, especially in water-deficient countries like Pakistan where increasing soil salinity, desertification and mismanagement of freshwater resources presented a bleak scenario for human development.
The demand for vegetable oil in Pakistan, she pointed out, had been increasing, witnessing a rapid growth in the recent decades. However, despite having a predominantly agrarian economy, the country is unable to meet the national requirement of vegetable oil.
“The 70 per cent shortfall of edible oil requirement is currently met through imports to the tune of Rs38 billion annually. Palm oil, which is injurious to health for having 52 per cent fat saturation, constitutes the bulk of this import,” she said, adding that saturated fats increased the chances of heart diseases than polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Trials at the ISHU, she said, had shown that the oil recovery from certain halophytic species ranged between 22 to 25 per cent with 65 per cent to 74 per cent unsaturated fatty acids (USFA), which were as good as other conventional edible oils. For instance S. fruticosa (the best from health point of view contained 74 per cent USFA), followed by H. mucronatum (70 per cent USFA), H. stocksii (69 per cent USFA), C. cretica (64 per cent USFA), Arthrocnemum macrostachyum (65 per cent USFA) and A. maurorum (54 per cent USFA).
Still, the results were more encouraging in the case of Suaeda, Atriplex (both abundantly found in the coastal areas), Halogeton, Kochia, Allenrolfea and Sarcobatus (foreign species) in which unsaturation was found to be between 78 and 89per cent. They could be compared with the best conventional oil seed crops, for instance Canola that produced over 90 per cent unsaturated fatty contents with 40 per cent oil recovery. The pressed cake left after oil extraction could also be used in cattle feed, she said.
“The best part of the hardy plants having numerous properties, including medicinal, is that they can be grown in brackish water or with a certain quantity of seawater. They have been successfully used as fodder at a Hub-Kund farm under the supervision of a KU team while research for using this plant as bio-fuel is also under way at the institute. This is important, considering the fact that the country faces an acute shortage of freshwater. Besides, most conventional crops do not survive moderate salinity stress which is increasing due to wrong agricultural practices,” she said.
