Performance of purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) as a salt-removing crop

Specific plants can remove salts from the soil and contribute to saline remediation in orchard intercropping. Determining the level of highest salinity that a salt-removing crop can withstand without reducing its yield is important for management. It is also important to know the critical hazardous level of saline irrigation water for the fruit trees. The objective of this study was to investigate the salt-removing capacity of purslane by studying different stress criteria and by tracking its salt removal from germination to harvest. Therefore, a pot experiment was performed by enhanced salinity levels. The results showed that purslane could cumulatively remove considerable amounts of salt from the soil if practical to cultivate as an intercrop all year round. In this regard, 6.5 dS m−1 can be concluded as the reasonable salinity level for the purslane managed to be intercropped in fruit orchards.