Salt and Oxalic Acid Content of Leaves of the Saltbush Atriplex halimus in the Northern Negev

Abstract

Saltbush (Atriplex halimus L.) in the semiarid south of Israel was analyzed for leaf sodium, chlorine, and oxalic acid in order to identify and propagate low-salt bushes likely to be browsed more readily by range cattle and sheep. No correlation was found between leaf chlorine and growth habit factors like bush size and leafiness, or between chlorine and sodium. High-chlorine bushes had a lower Na/Cl ratio, and probably a substantial proportion of the Na+ and Cl- ions are not linked as NaCl. Leaf oxalic acid was lower in high-chlorine bushes. The data suggest that moisture streess sharply reduced insoluble leaf oxalate. Values found are unlikely to cause toxicity problems in livestock.