| Common sea-buckthorn | |
|---|---|
| Common sea-buckthorn shrub in The Netherlands | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Elaeagnaceae |
| Genus: | Hippophae |
| Species: | H. rhamnoides |
| Binomial name | |
| Hippophae rhamnoides L. |
|
Hippophae rhamnoides, the common sea-buckthorn, is a deciduous shrub species in the genus Hippophae.
Common Sea-buckthorn branches are dense, 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 male and female flowers on separate plants. The brownish male flowers produce wind-distributed pollen. It is a non-legume nitrogen fixer. The fruits are a bright orange.
Contents |
Usually found near the coast forming thickets on fixed dunes and sea cliffs.
Hippophae rhamnoides is a native plant throughout Europe, including Britain, from Norway south and east to Spain and Asia to Japan and the Himalayas. It is grown as an agricultural plant in Germany,[1] France,[2] India and China. China is the largest agricultural producer.[3] The origin of the plant is Nepal and it migrated to other parts of Eurasia after the last ice age.
The fruits of sea buckthorn are used in a wide variety of products. Due to difficult harvest conditions and long ramp-up time of 6 to 8 years buckthorn is a relatively expensive raw material.
Especially in Germany and France sea buckthorn is commonly sold as fruit juice or as an ingredient in non-alcoholic and alcoholic mixed beverages. Other uses include the berries to be processed as fruit wine or into liquor as well as jam. Buckthorn tea is also made out of the fruits and originates from India.
The fruits have a very high vitamin C content, on average exceeding the vitamin C content of lemons and oranges.[4]
Various pharmacological activities such as cytoprotective, anti-stress, immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective, radioprotective, anti-atherogenic, anti-tumor, anti-microbial and tissue regeneration have been reported.[5]
Buckthorn is resistant to wind and frost, tolerates salty soils and has a wide-reaching root system. It is often used to stabilize sandy locations and as a pioneering plant on regosol. [6]