Sea Buckthorn: The berry of the Himalayan Heavens.
Imagine a fruit known only to the folk of the high mountains, for perhaps thousands of years, for its incredible health benefits, and now being called “The Holy fruit of the mountains”, known in Chinese medicine as a “wonder fruit”, and contemporary research-based surveys naming it year after year the “Most nutritious fruit in the world”, also being described as the “Natural treasure-trove of Vitamins” …and so on! A secret berry-fruit, that grows in certain remote parts of Spiti and Ladakh and so on…what would it be? Any guesses?!…. The answer to all these questions is one fruit, perhaps the king of all fruits: The Sea buckthorn!
Fig no1. Berries of Sea buckthorn grow in large bunches, enveloping the thinner branches, with large thorns camouflaged in between the berries.
Unfortunately, despite being an incredible source of potential health, few people in India know about it much. Sea-buckthorn is a plant with great virtues, containing more than 100 types of compounds. It is a plant with versatile properties, multiple economic advantages and a rich history, which still continues in natural medicine, and it is hence included in the daily diet by more and more people for the prevention and treatment of diet-related diseases.
In fact, sea buckthorn is also known in various European nations, where it grows around seashores. In the Nordic countries, sea buckthorn is appreciated as the Oil Tree of the North, in Germany it is called sand-dorn, and as popular names it appears under the terms of: sand willow, sea thorn, shore thorn, Rhine thorn, Haff thorn, grazing land thorn, meadow thorn, painful thorn, fire thorn, coral bush, red thorn, or pheasant fruit. The Dutch drastically called them “laxative fruits” because the acids in the fruit stimulate the intestinal transit. Let’s now discuss the nutritional and morphological profile of this incredible fruit!
Sea buckthorn berries are rich in many essential nutrients such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, provitamins A, C, E, and a wide variety of bioactive compounds. The mesocarp (middle layer) of the fruit contains high levels of carotenoids, phenolic compounds, free and esterified sterols, triterpenols and isoprenols.
With a vitamin C content that is 15 times greater than that of oranges, sea-buckthorn berry is one of the very best natural plant sources of this crucial nutrient. Besides vitamin C, the sea buckthorn also contains vitamin A, vitamin E, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, vitamin B2 and vitamin B6. Concentration of vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C and E, in sea buckthorn is much higher than other fruits such as apricot, banana, mango, orange and peach. Presence of these vitamins in high quantity indicates its strong antioxidant property.
Sea Buckthorn berry contains omega 3, omega 5, omega 6, omega 7 and omega 9! The berries also contain serotonin, beta carotene, uric acid, succinic acid, oleanolic acid. For mineral substances, the fruit contains 11 micro elements such as zinc, calcium and iron.
Morphologically, sea buckthorn berries consist of seeds (23% w/w), pulp (68% w/w), and skin (8% w/w). Sea buckthorn fruits are distinguished by the fact that they contain oil in considerable quantities, as an inherent part of the fruit. The most valuable component of sea buckthorn fruits is their oil. There are two sources of oil in sea buckthorn fruit: seed oil and oil contained in the pulp of the fruit, quantitatively more compared to seed oil.
Note that, Sea buckthorn seed oil is characterized by a high content of oleic acid (17%) and a one-to-one ratio of omega-3 (alpha linolenic) and omega-6 (linoleic) at about 34% and 31%, respectively. The equivalence relationship between the two omegas is particularly important, intervening in the regulation of thousands of metabolic functions. Almost every biological function in the body, is interconnected with the balance between omega-6 and omega-3. Its for this reason that See buckthorn berries are perhaps the best Omega resource available in the nature.
Note that, Omega-6 fatty acids (found in plant based fats), aren’t necessarily bad for you, but if they are consumed in large amounts without omega-3s, they can cause inflammation, which is at the root of many diseases. Now, rich Omega sources like Cod-liver oil, are very rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and because of fast food consumption on the rise, today, people end up consuming Omega-6s multiple times that of Omega-3s, this drastic imbalance between the two Omegas, can cause real health problems. Fortunately, Sea buckthorn has, Omega 3 and Omega 6 almost in balance, and thus is a wonder fruit to consume!
The predominant fatty acids in the oils from sea buckthorn pulp/peel are palmitic (23–40%), oleic (20–53%), and palmitoleic (11–27%). Monounsaturated fatty acids are the most important class of fatty acids in terms of quantity (53–70%), followed by saturated fatty acids (26–41%), and then polyunsaturated fatty acids (3–7%).
High content of palmitoleic acid, unusual for a vegetable oil, distinguishes the oils from sea buckthorn pulp/peel from those from sea buckthorn seeds. Palmitoleic fatty acid forms a large part of epidermal lipids of human skin and therefore the pulp oil of sea buckthorn is often used in cosmetics emulsion. Many studies on palmitoleic acid have focused on the health of the skin and mucous membranes, based on the fact that omega-7 is present in both body structures.
Additionally, sea buckthorn is a very good source of phytosterols, which play an important role in the prophylaxis (ie. prevention) of cardiovascular diseases induced by hypercholesterolemia. Sitosterol has recently been intensively investigated for its physiologically beneficial effects on humans, being associated with reduction of cancer incidence.
What about Carbohydrates and Fibers? One of the main components in sea buckthorn fruit dry matter is the carbohydrates class. Recent researches have reported total carbohydrates content in the range of 400 and 600 g/kg dry weight. Generally speaking, the carbohydrates contained in sea buckthorn berries are mostly glucose and fructose, with small amounts of xylose, mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, saccharose, and ethyl glucose. As sea buckthorn berries have a low sugar content and a high titratable acidity, an important factor in improving the flavor of sea buckthorn berries is a high sugar/acid ratio, which varies by changes in latitude and altitude of geographic location. In addition, one of the important health-promoting aspects of sea buckthorn is high-fiber content, which would vary depending on weather conditions and maturity of the berries.
Protein & Amino Acids, also form an important component of these berries. Various parts of sea buckthorn plant (woody verdure, seeds, leaves, barks, branches) have a high protein content. The most considerable amounts of protein (on average 15%) are found in sea buckthorn leaves, and for this reason they are used as an unconventional source of protein in human food.
Comparing to other berry varieties, the berries of sea buckthorn are characterized by a relatively high content of protein. In addition, the protein levels in sea buckthorn juice are quite high for a fruit juice and this is reflected in the fact that sea buckthorn juice is a cloudy or opalescent product. The source of opalescence in most juices is due to the presence of cellular debris, but largely due to the presence of cell membranes that contain considerable proteins and give a stable turbidity to the juice. The total protein content reported for various species of sea buckthorn were 46–129 g/kg dry weight (India variety).
Sea buckthorn juice is rich in many free amino acids. A total of 18 of the 22 known amino acids have been found in sea buckthorn fruits, half of which are essential because they play a critical role in various processes in the human body. Of these, eight free amino acids (threonine, valine, methionine, leucine, lysine, tryptophan, isoleucine, and phenylalanine) are essential for the human body. Leucine and lysine presented in sea buckthorn are deficient in the majority of other plant feedstuffs. Some research indicates dominant presence of aspartic acid in sea buckthorn berries (426.6 mg/100 g), followed by proline (45.2 mg/100 g), and threonine (36.8 mg/100 g). While, Other research indicates presence of asparagine, followed by glutamic acid and alanine.
Amongst Organic acids, Sea buckthorn fruits contain organic acids, mainly malic acid and quinic acid, which together make up about 90% of all fruit acids of different origins!
Potassium is the most abundant of all the trace elements identified. The contents of four main metals and phosphorus decrease in order potassium > calcium > phosphorus > magnesium ≈ sodium. Although the total iron concentration in sea buckthorn is low (compared to raspberries, Blueberries and Black current), its biological accessibility is most likely good because of the positive effect of high ascorbic acid content on iron absorption. Besides that, the high selenium content is noteworthy, known for its antioxidant properties and role in boosting immunity and fertility.
The carotenoid content, acting as an antioxidant and helping to synthesize and epithelialize collagen, is one of the key characteristics by which sea buckthorn oil is traded commercially. Carotenoids in oil vary widely depending on the source of the oil. Tocopherols and tocotrienols (named tocochromanols), commonly known as vitamin E, are important bioactive components in sea buckthorn berries, which have a significant antioxidative effect. The level of tocochromanols in berries depends on origin, variety, harvesting time, and maturation. In comparison with other fruit and vegetable, sea buckthorn berries are a rich source of tocochromanols, especially α-tocopherol.
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is the most important therapeutic element in sea buckthorn fruit, as it acts as an antioxidant and supports the integrity of the cell membrane. It has been found in practically all parts of the sea buckthorn plant: in berry’s juice (11.6–13.0 g/kg), in seeds (1.5 g/kg), and in leaves (up to 3.7 g/kg)! Vitamin C content in sea buckthorn was found to be 20 times higher than that of hawthorn, 3 times higher than in kiwi, 6 times higher than in citrus, 80 times higher than in tomatoes, and 200 times higher than in apples. It should be noted that sea buckthorn berries do not contain ascorbate oxidase, the enzyme responsible for the degradation of ascorbic acid and therefore, sea buckthorn products and even dried fruits still contain large amounts of vitamin C.
Phenolic compounds are the main compounds of the plant that have antioxidant activity. This activity is mainly due to the Redox-properties, which play an important role in the adsorption and neutralization of free radicals or the decomposition of peroxides. A total of 15 phenolic compounds, classified into 4 categories (phenolic acids, flavones, flavonol-monoglycosides, and flavonol-diglycosides), have been identified in Sea buckthorn.
Flavonoids, are the most common polyphenols found in food, especially their glycosides, which form the largest group of antioxidants found in nature. Their concentration in sea buckthorn berries is several times higher than the content recorded in other high-flavonoid plants such as hawthorn, cornelian cherry, wild grown European blackberry, blackthorn or dog rose, mulberry, pomegranate, red raspberries, and blueberry! Research shows that, Sea buckthorn fruits have the highest antioxidant activity among medicinal plants! Gallic acid, one of the dominant phenols in sea buckthorn, has been reported to be the most effective antioxidant!
Lastly, Sea Buckthorn berries, have a unique flavour that cannot be compared to the flavour of any other fruit. Sea buckthorn fruits are known to have a specific scent based on around 45 compounds, its description considering notes of berry or citrus and even pineapple!
We at BEE TRIBE, are committed to bring out, still to be discovered, such health wonders that our great Himalayan region has to offer. Health is a priority for all of us now, especially after losing so many precious near and dear ones in COVID-19 pandemic! We hope, that reading such valuable information as we have provided here, about this superfood, shall convince you to include it in your daily diet, not only boosting your health to new heights, but also support the hardworking rural folk of the high Himalayan region, who painstakingly pluck these berries from the thorny bushes each year, helping them pay their home bills!
Wish you all a superb health ahead!