A potential Fruit found in Himalayas of our country: Its importance and value is boon for us...lets know about it.

Sea buckthorn and Its importance- A potential fruit in Himalayas

                                                                                                                       

Scientific classification                                                                                            

Kingdom: Plantae

Order: Rosales

Family: Elaeagnaceae

Genus: Hippophae (Linn.)

English name: sea buckthorn.

Out of 7 species of sea buckthorn, H.salicifolia (local name: Dale chuk, chichi) and H.tibetena (Bhuin chuk, taru, tora) are only two species found in Himalayan region of Nepal.

Sea buckthorn is hardy, deciduous, dioecious and spinescent shrub and multipurpose small tree having an ecological, ethno-botanical, medicinal and commercial uses.

Distribution:

Sea buckthorn is native to various parts from Asia to Europe. The natural habitat extends in China, Mongolia, Russia and most of parts of northern Europe. In Nepal, H.salicifolia is distributed from 1800-3600 msl.^* and H.tibetena from 3600-4200 msl^* (Gupta et al, 2000). It has been recorded in mountainous region, Manang, Mustang, Humla, Jumla, Darchula, Dolpa, Rasuwa and Baglung ranging from altitude 2000-4500m.

Description:

Sea buckthorn is shrub of about 0.5 to 6m tall and rarely up to 10m found in central Asia. It is light demander species and cannot tolerate shady condition near large trees. It is hydrophilous plant that grows in areas that receives an annual ppt of 400-600mm. It has been recorded to grow in an area having annual moisture ranges from 600-700mm (Rongsen, 1992). It can even withstand an air temperature ranging -10⁰C (in winter) to 30⁰C (in summer) and are drought as well as salt tolerant.

Sea buckthorn is dioecious plant with no remarkable distinct between male and female plant. Pollination is anemophilous, i.e.; by wind. Sex of plant is difficult to distinguish till the flowering stage (Rongsen, 1990). It generally propagates through seed but can be regenerate through vegetative means (root/stem cutting). Vegetative propagation is aided by “root turion” present in horizontal root.

H.salicifolia

·         Deciduous willow like thorny tree of about 10m tall.

·         Leaves- short stalked, oblong to lanceolate, 3-7cm by 6-8mm, with star shaped hairs beneath.

·         Flowers- male flowers are stalkless where female flowers are solitary occurring in leafless stem.

·         Fruits- yellowish to orange in color.

·         Flowering time- April to May.

·         Fruiting time- October to March.

·         Seed collection time- September-November (Bhadra-kartik).

·         Number of seeds/kg- 90,000-1,10,000.

·         Association- with Alnus nepalensis, Debrpegeasia salicifolia, Desmodium elegans, pinus wallichiana, populus spp in lower elevation and Abies spectabilis, Taxus wallichiana, Tsuga dumosa at higher elevation (Pyakurel 2001).             

                                                                                  (Polunin and stainton 1984;Manandhar 2002)

fig.1. H.salicifolia                                                        fig.2. H.tebetena

H.tibetena

·         Deciduous shrublet of about 60 cm height.

·         Leaves- elliptical shaped covered with rust colored scales, 1.5-2 cm by 2-4 mm.

·         Flower- stalkless, unisexual, yellowish color.

·         Fruits- orange red in color.

·         Flowering time- April to June

·         Fruiting time- August to September

·         Seed collection time- October-November (Aswin- kartik).

·         Number of seeds/kg- 50,000-70,000.

·         Association- with Anemone sp., Berberis sp., Geranium sp., Iris sp., Juniperus indica, Lonicera spinosa, Rosa sp., Salix sp., Sophora sp. (Polunin and stainton 1984, Manandhar 2002, Pyakurel 2001, Pyakurel and Gurung 2006).

Uses and importance

Sea buckthorn is also known as “liquid gold plant” in Russia, China and Mongolia. It is multipurpose plant having wide ecological, ethno-botanical and economical value.

Local uses: Ripe berry can be eaten raw and it is sour in taste. Fruits are processed to make home- made vinegar called “chuk” (in nepali). Leaves can be used as nutritional tea either fresh or dried. Its leaves, young branches and fruit pulps can be good source of animal fodder.

Ecological importance: Roots of Sea buckthorn spread rapidly, widely and extensively in the soils. It helps to control and checks erosion and promotes soil and water conservation. It is found to be symbiotically associated with Frankia, an actinomycetes in its root nodules. This symbiotic association enables plant to fix as much as 180 kg of atmospheric nitrogen/ha/annum (Rongsen, 1992; Singh et al 2001). The whole body part of shrubs acts as wind breaks and stabilizes the riverbanks or landscape. It is ornamental bushes that enhance wildlife habitat and farm stand protection.

Medicinal value: Different part of it is used for medicinal purposes. Barks and leaves have been used for treating diarrhea and various dermatological diseases. Fruits have high content of vitamin “C” (range=114-1550 mg per 100 grams) i.e.; about 15 times more than that of orange (range= 45mg per 100 grams). Fruit contains soluble sugar (7.1%), organic acids (4.4%), Vitamins (Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Carotene), free amino acids, proteins (globulin, albumin, and carotene), flavonoids, 27 elements and several bioactive substances and minerals (Rongsen 1992). The seed oil is considered to be anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-cancer and is used to treat mucositis, radiation damage, ulcer, burns, etc (Xu 1999).

Consumer’s products: Fruits are used to manufacture products like jams, jellies, pies, lotion, liquors, and beverages. Seeds and pulp of fruits is used for making various cosmetics products. Production of sea buckthorn juice has been started since 1990 in trekking route to Manang and Mustang. These fruit juice are mainly centralized in Kathmandu city and sold in supermarket.

Sea buckthorn is one of the most important leading plant species found in Himalayan region of our country that can contribute in income generation of local rural people from its leaves, barks and fruits. Proper management and production of sea buckthorn can support livelihood of people of Himalayan region in one hand and promote biodiversity conservation in other hand. So, local people should be awared about the potentiality, multiple-benefits and market availability that sea buckthorn can hold and provide.

*msl- mean sea level.

Reference:

Ansari sahim. A: Sea buckthorn –A potential resource for biodiversity conservation in Nepal.

Todd Jim: transition crop specialist/OMAFRA: www.omafra.gov.on.ca

Pyakurel D and Baniya. A, WWF Nepal: NTFP- Impetus for conservation and livelihood support in Nepal.

Xu M. 1999. The medical research and exploitation of Seabuckthorn. Hippophae

Rongsen L. 1990. Seabuckthorn Resources and its Underexploited Potential in the Himalayan Region. ICIMOD MFS series no.12, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Rongsen L. 1992. Seabuckthorn; A Multipurpose Plant Species for Fragile Mountains. ICIMOD occasional paper no. 20, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Pyakurel D. 2001. Germination and Seedling Growth of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae L.).

Polunin, O. and Stainton A. 1984. Flowers of the Himalaya. Oxford University Press.

www.wikipedia.org-image source.