Sea buckthorn oil

Sea buckthorn oil is derived from plants in a group of species of the genus Hippophae, the most commonly used of which is Hippophae rhamnoides. As species belonging to this genus accumulate lipids in the mesocarp (the fleshy part of the fruit), oil can be extracted from either the seeds or the pulp of the fruit.

Oil content in seeds of sea buckthorn is on average 7-11 % while oil content of pulp is around 1.5-3 % (per fresh weight). Seed oil is characterized with high contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids while pulp oil contains monounsaturated fatty acids and carotenoids. Both oils also contain dense amounts of tocopherols, tocotrienols and plant sterols.

Oils from sea buckthorn seeds and pulp differ considerably in fatty acid composition. While linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid are the major fatty acids in seed oil, sea buckthorn pulp oil contains approximately 65% combined of the monounsaturated fatty acid, palmitoleic acid, and the saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid. Few other vegetable oils contain a similar quantity of these fatty acids.

is the major vitamin E compound in sea buckthorn. Seed oil also contains considerable amounts of . The total amount of and in seed oil is roughly 100–300 mg/100 g and in pulp oil 100–200 mg/100 g of oil.

As carotenoids are the pigments that give sea buckthorn berry its distinctive colour, these compounds are present in high amounts in pulp oil. However, the total content of carotenoids varies (300–2000 mg/100 g) greatly between different growth locations and subspecies. In general, the main carotenoids present in pulp oil are beta-carotene, zeaxanthin and lycopene.

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