Welcome to the MedLibrary.org Wikipedia Supplement on Sea Buckthorn -- Please Click to Return to Front Page

Sea-buckthorn
Common Sea-buckthorn shrub in The Netherlands
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Elaeagnaceae Genus: Hippophae L.
Species
Hippophae rhamnoides Hippophae salicifolia

The sea-buckthorns (Hippophae L.) are deciduous shrubs in the genus Hippophae, family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea-buckthorn is hyphenated here to avoid confusion with the buckthorns (Rhamnus, family Rhamnaceae). It is also referred to as "sea buckthorn", seabuckthorn, sandthorn or seaberry^[1].

Since 2005 in the United States, other such developed countries and the global functional food industry, there has been a rapidly growing recognition of sea-buckthorn berries for their consumer product potential, exceptional nutrient content and antioxidant qualities^[2], giving them commercial status as a novel superfruit^[3].

Contents 1 Description and distribution 1.1 Berries and leaves 2 Uses 2.1 Harvesting and landscaping 2.2 Nutrients and potential health effects 2.3 Consumer products 2.4 Traditional medicine 3 Organizations 4 See also 5 References 6 External links 7 See also

Description and distribution

There are 6 species and 12 subspecies native over a wide area of Europe and Asia, including China, Mongolia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Finland, Sweden and Norway. More than 90 percent or about 1.5 million hectares of the world's sea buckthorn resources can be found in China where the plant is exploited for soil and water conservation purposes.^[4] The shrubs reach 0.5–6 m tall, rarely up to 10 m in central Asia, and typically occur in dry, sandy areas. They are tolerant of salt in the air and soil, but demand full sunlight for good growth and do not tolerate shady conditions near larger trees.

The common sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is by far the most widespread, with a range extending from the Atlantic coasts of Europe right across to northwestern China. In western Europe, it is largely confined to sea coasts where salt spray off the sea prevents other larger plants from out-competing it, but in central Asia it is more widespread in dry semi-desert sites where other plants cannot survive the dry conditions; in central Europe and Asia it also occurs as a subalpine shrub above tree line in mountains, and other sunny areas such as river banks.

Common sea-buckthorn has branches that are dense and stiff, and very thorny. The leaves are a distinct pale silvery-green, lanceolate, 3–8 cm long and less than 7 mm broad. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The male produces brownish flowers which produce wind-distributed pollen.

Berries and leaves

The female plants produce orange berries 6–9 mm in diameter, soft, juicy and rich in oils. The berries are an important winter food resource for some birds, notably fieldfares.

Leaves are eaten by the larva of the coastal race of the ash pug moth and by larvae of other Lepidoptera including brown-tail, dun-bar, emperor moth, mottled umber and Coleophora elaeagnisella.

Hippophae salicifolia (willow-leaved sea-buckthorn) is restricted to the Himalaya, to the south of the common sea-buckthorn, growing at high altitudes in dry valleys; it differs from H. rhamnoides in broader (to 10 mm broad), greener (less silvery) leaves, and yellow berries. A wild variant occurs in the same area, but at even higher altitudes in the alpine zone^{citation needed}. It is a low shrub not growing taller than 1 m with small leaves 1-3 cm long.

Uses

Harvesting and landscaping

Harvesting is difficult due to the dense thorn arrangement among the berries on each branch. A common harvesting technique is to remove an entire branch, though this is destructive to the shrub and reduces future harvests. A branch removed in this way is next frozen, allowing the berries to be easily shaken off. The branches are cut, deep frozen to −32°C, then shaken or abraded for removal of the berries.

The worker then crushes the berries to remove up to 95% of the leaves and other debris. This causes the berries to melt slightly from the surface as the work takes place at ambient temperature (about 20°C). Berries or the crushed pulp are later frozen for storage.

The most effective way to harvest berries and not damage branches is by using a berry-shaker. Mechanical harvesting leaves up to 50% in the field and the berries can be harvested only once in two years. They only get about 25% of the yield that could be harvested with this relatively new machinery.

During the Cold War, Russian and East German horticulturists developed new varieties with greater nutritional value, larger berries, different ripening months and a branch that is easier to harvest. Over the past 20 years, experimental crops have been grown in the United States, one in Nevada and one in Arizona, and in several provinces of Canada.^[5][6]

Sea-buckthorn is also a popular garden and landscaping shrub, particularly making a good vandal-proof barrier hedge with an aggressive basal shoot system exploited in some parts of the world as wind breaks and to stabilize riverbanks and steep slopes. They have value in northern climates for their landscape qualities, as the colorful berry clusters are retained through winter.^[7] Branches may be used by florists for designing ornaments. The plant is the regional flora of the Finnish region of Satakunta.

Nutrients and potential health effects

Sea-buckthorn berries are multipurposed, edible and nutritious, though very acidic and astringent, unpleasant to eat raw, unless 'bletted' (frosted to reduce the astringency) and/or mixed as a juice with sweeter substances such as apple or grape juice.

When the berries are pressed, the resulting sea-buckthorn juice separates into three layers: on top is a thick, orange cream; in the middle, a layer containing sea-buckthorn's characteristic high content of saturated and polyunsaturated fats; and the bottom layer is sediment and juice.^[8][9] Containing fat sources applicable for cosmetic purposes, the upper two layers can be processed for skin creams and liniments, whereas the bottom layer can be used for edible products like syrup.^[8]

Nutrient and phytochemical constituents of sea-buckthorn berries have potential value as antioxidants that may affect inflammatory disorders, cancer^[4][10] or other diseases,^[11] although no specific health benefits have yet been proved by clinical research in humans.

The fruit of the plant has a high vitamin C content—in a range of 114 to 1550 mg per 100 grams^[4][9] with an average content (695 mg per 100 grams) about 12 times greater than the 50 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams found in orange— placing sea-buckthorn fruit among the most enriched plant sources of vitamin C[1]. The fruit also contains dense contents of carotenoids, vitamin E, amino acids, dietary minerals, β-sitosterol and polyphenolic acids.^[4][9][12]

Apart from being nourishing, the juice has a freezing point of −22 degrees Celsius allowing it to remain a liquid even in sub-zero temperatures.^{citation needed}

Consumer products

Sea-buckthorn fruit can be used to make pies, jams, lotions and liquors.^[4] The juice or pulp has other potential applications in foods or beverages.^[4] For example, in Finland, it is used as a nutritional ingredient in baby food.^{citation needed}

For its troops confronting extremely low temperatures (see Siachen), India's Defence Research Development Organization established a factory in Leh to manufacture a multi-vitamin herbal beverage based on sea-buckthorn juice.^[13]

The seed and pulp oils have nutritional properties that vary under different processing methods.^[4][14] Sea-buckthorn oils are used as a source for ingredients in several commercially available cosmetic products and nutritional supplements.^[4]

Traditional medicine

Different parts of sea-buckthorn have been used as traditional therapies for diseases[2] (see References). As no applications discussed in this section have been verified by Western science and sufficient clinical trial evidence, such knowledge remains mostly unreferenced outside of Asia and is communicated mainly from person to person.

Grown widely throughout its native China and other mainland regions of Asia, sea-buckthorn is an herbal medicine used over centuries to relieve cough, aid digestion, invigorate blood circulation and alleviate pain. In Mongolia, extracts of sea-buckthorn branches and leaves are used to treat gastrointestinal distress in humans and animals.

Bark and leaves are used for treating diarrhea, gastrointestinal, dermatologic disorders and topical compressions for rheumatoid arthritis. Flowers may be used as a skin softener.

For its hemostatic and anti-inflammatory effects, berry fruits are added to medications for pulmonary, gastrointestinal, cardiac, blood and metabolic disorders in Indian, Chinese and Tibetan medicines. Sea-buckthorn berry components have potential anticarcinogenic activity [3][4].

Fresh juice, syrup and berry or seed oils are used for colds, fever, exhaustion, as an analgesic or treatment for stomach ulcers, cancer, and metabolic disorders.

Called 'Chharma' in some native languages, oil from fruits and seeds is used for liver diseases, inflammation, disorders of the gastrointestinal system, including peptic ulcers and gastritis, eczema, canker sores and other ulcerative disorders of mucosal tissues, wounds, inflammation, burns, frostbite, psoriasis, rosacea, lupus erythematosus, and chronic dermatoses. In ophthalmology, berry extracts have been used for keratitis, trachoma, eyelid injuries and conjunctivitis.

Organizations

In 2005, the "EAN-Seabuck" network between European Union states, China, Russia and New Independent States was funded by the European Commission to promote sustainable crop and consumer product development^[15].

The International Seabuckthorn Association, formerly the International Center for Research and Training on Seabuckthorn (ICRTS), was formed jointly in 1988 by the China Research and Training Center on Seabuckthorn, the Seabuckthorn Office of the Yellow River Water Commission, and the Shaanxi Seabuckthorn Development Office. From 1995 to 2000, ICRTS published the research journal, Hippophae, which appears to be no longer active.

See also

• Sea buckthorn oil

References

External links

• European Asian network for the development of strategies to enhance the sustainable use of sea buckthorn
• Li TSC, Beveridge THJ. Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.): Production and Utilization, National Research Council of Canada Press, no. 46317, ISBN-13 9780660190075
• Li TSC. Product development of sea buckthorn In: J. Janick and A. Whipkey (eds.), Trends in new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA, 2002
• Li TSC, Oliver A. Sea buckthorn factsheet, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, May 2001
• Todd, J. Introduction to sea-buckthorn, Ontario Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, February, 2006
• United States Department of Agriculture Seaberry Profile
• Purdue University list of articles
• Series of high quality photos at Hort.net
• Flora Europaea: Hippophae
• Flora of Pakistan: Hippophae
• Flora of China: Hippophae species list

See also

• Harvest time influences fatty acids and sterols of sea-buckthorn berries
• Sea-buckthorn among exotic new flavor opportunities
• Sea-buckthorn to join heart-healthy juice club?
• An alcoholic drink using seaberries.

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 6 October 2008, at 23:52.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Sea Buckthorn".

The URL for this specific entry is:

• http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Sea_Buckthorn

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.