Description
Medicinal Parts
The medicinal parts are the ripe, yellow-red berries.
Flower and Fruit
The plant is dioecious and has greenish-yellow, insignificant flowers in numerous, sturdy clusters in the axils of scales. There are 2 bracts and a simple calyx. The male calyx is divided in half down to the base, with brown-spotted ovate sepals; it has 4 stamens attached to the base. The female calyx is a tight tube clasping the ovary with erect, inward-inclined tips. The fruit is a bright orange, globular, ellipsoid, false berry.
Leaves, Stem, and Root
The plant is an angular, thorny, 1.5- to 4.- m high shrub with numerous thorn-tipped and thorny branches. The leaves are 5 to 8 cm long, linear-lanceolate, short petioled, glabrous above, tomentose beneath. The plant spreads by underground runners.
Habitat
Hippophaë rhamnoides is indigenous to Europe and some northern regions of Asia.
Production
Sea Buckthorn berries are the false fruit of Hippophaë rhamnoides. The fatty oil is extracted from both the seeds and the fruit flesh. The harvest is from August to December, until the first snow. As soon as the fruit has been picked, it is immediately processed. The juice is produced without any contact with metal substances.
Other Names
Sallow Thorn
Actions & Pharmacology
Compounds
Fruit acids: chiefly malic acid, additionally acetic acid, quinic acid
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C): 0.2-1.4%
Flavonoids: in particular kaempferol, isorhamnetin-as well as quercetin tri- and tetra-glycosides
Carotinoids: beta-carotine, gamma-carotine, lycopene
Fatty oil (in the seeds 12%): chief fatty acids oleic acid, isolinol acid, linolenic acid, stearic acid
Sugar alcohols: mannitol, quebrachit
Effects
The drug is used as a vitamin C supplement. The vitamin C constituent encourages the healing of wounds and epithelization. The oil has a liver-protective, ulcer-protective, tumor-protective, antioxidative and wound-healing effect. The oil is said to be anticoagulative. The flavones are said to improve the contractility and pumping ability of cardiac muscle, reduce peripheral resistance, and promote vascular elasticity.
Indications & Usage
Unproven Uses
The drug is used as an infection prophylaxis, in particular during the time just before spring and during periods of convalescence. It is used externally as a treatment for radiation damage, such as x-ray damage and sunburn, and as fatty oil for the treatment of wounds.
Precautions & Adverse Reactions
No health hazards or side effects are known in conjunction with the proper administration of designated therapeutic dosages.
Dosage
Mode of Administration
Buckthorn is an extract constituent in various vitamin C concentrates and juices.
Daily Dosage
The recommended daily dose is 5 to 10 g of one of the Buckthorn products.
