Selçuk University (SU) Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gökhan Zengin, regarding his project titled "Comprehensive Biological and Chemical Research on Five 'Salsola' Species Collected from the Flora of Turkey", stated that 5 saline plants will be investigated in Salt Lake and said, "The main fiction of our project is to contribute to the development of the national economy and national medicine."

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zengin, who is among Turkey's leading scientists in the field of plant chemistry and biological activity, said in a statement that 31 of the 113 projects received scientific evaluation within the scope of TÜBİTAK BİDEB 2247-A National Leading Researchers Program were entitled to be supported. Stating that the project they prepared with the laboratory team was deemed worthy of support within this framework, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zengin said, "In our laboratory, we generally carry out studies on the biochemical properties of plants and the use of plants for medicinal purposes. In this context, with my graduate students and doctoral students, we aim to transfer the plant potentials of our country to pharmacy shelves. With the Physiology/Biochemistry Laboratory International Collaboration Network, we are investigating whether the samples brought to our laboratory from abroad can be a source of healing for many health problems, especially global health problems, by revealing their biopotentials, biological activities and chemical compositions. At this point, our project, which was presented by our laboratory in July 2021, was recorded as the only project supported at Selçuk University within the scope of TÜBİTAK BİDEB 2247-A National Leading Researchers Program."

"THE CHEMICAL CONTENT OF PLANTS WILL BE DETERMINED IN ITALY"

Zengin stated that within the scope of the project, they will try to determine the biopotentials of 5 plant species belonging to the genus "Salsola" collected near Salt Lake and their use as pharmaceutical raw materials. Explaining that there are many studies on the use of such plants on pharmacy shelves in the world, Zengin said, "Saline plants, also known as halophytic plants, which are among the plant samples whose biopotentials and biological potentials are little known, are encountered in regions with high salt concentration, sea coasts or in environments such as Salt Lake. In our TUBITAK project, the Salt Lake Basin is a very salty region, and therefore we have focused on saline plants as a target to transfer the plants grown here to pharmacy shelves and to provide support to the national economy and the National Pharmaceutical Project. At this point, we will carry out some analyses in our laboratory ourselves, and we will benefit from our foreign collaborations for some analyzes. Especially with our collaborators in Italy, we will determine the exact chemical content of these plants. Within the scope of the project, we will evaluate whether there will be a search for solutions to diseases characterized as global health problems such as diabetes, alzheimer's and obesity, or at least a new source of raw materials that can be transferred to the pharmacy shelf at this point. The main fiction of our project is to contribute to the development of the national economy and national medicine."