Halophytes are the good candidates in coastal saline areas which could be irrigated with wastewater. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the soil-water-plant system under control and wastewater irrigation (containing toxic elements and organic matter) at three durations (vegetative, flowering, and reproductive stages) and two exposure times (2 and 4 days in each stage). The results obtained in the experimental tests for wastewater irrigation indicated that the Salicornia is efficient for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (61%), biochemical oxygen demand (74%), total suspended solids (47.6%), and ammoniacal nitrogen (64%) at the reproductive stage. At the same time, the average nitrate concentration increased to 51.3 mg L-1 with more solids. Regardless of wastewater irrigation duration, irrigation with wastewater significantly increased organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium of the soil. The Mg2+ and Ca2+ contents in the aboveground biomass of the plants were also high ranged from 0.58 to 1%, and 0.43 to 0.68 mg g-1 DW, respectively. All the exchangeable cations other than Na+ were higher for wastewater irrigation at the flowering stage. Plants maintained noticeably higher Ca2+/Na+ and K+/Na+ ratios in the roots than those in the shoots except for 4 days after the reproductive stage. S. europaea is well adapted to grow in wastewater irrigation and can tolerate hypoxic conditions through improving water and soil quality.
Keywords: Biomass yield; Development stage; Halophytes; Nutritional quality; Organic pollution.