Table Of ContentSeabuckthorn (Hippophae L.)
A Multipurpose Wonder Plant
About Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Virendra Singh, a world-renowned seabuckthorn scientist, is well known
for his valuable contribution in the development of science of seabuckthorn in India.
He has been working on seabuckthorn in dry temperate Indian Himalayas, since
1993 and worked on various aspects like genetic diversity and improvement,
biochemical characterization, selection and introduction of high yielding local and
exotic forms and cultivation technologies of seabuckthorn. He is also instrumental in
motivating Indian scientists to start research work on clinical and experimental studies and
standardization of various health products of seabuckthorn in his own university and about 35 other
research organizations of India. Presently, he is Consortium Principal Investigator of Indian Council
of Agricultural Research’s funded scheme under National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP)
entitled “A value chain on seabuckthorn (Hippophae L)” (1 million USD, during 2008-14), a multi-
organizational seabuckthorn R&D programme in dry temperate Himalayas. He is credited with
several research papers on seabuckthorn published in reputed international and national journals. He
has also edited four books and authored two books on seabuckthorn in collaboration with
international experts.Dr.Virendra Singh is a Member of Board of Directors of International
Seabuckthorn Association (ISA) and also a Member of Scientific Committee of ISA. In order to
sensitize the Indian scientists, policy makers, farmers and private companies, Dr. Singh, along with
his team, organized the International Workshop on Seabuckthorn, held on February 18-21, 2001 at
India International Center, New Delhi. As Organizing Secretary, he has also organized two National
Conferences on Seabuckthorn in 2010 and 2011 at Palampur. Dr. Singh is also Secretary of
Seabuckthorn Association of India. He has also chaired sessions in ISA’s Conferences held at Berlin,
(2003), Beijing (2005) and Xining (2011). He is widely traveled and visited several countries of
Europe, Asia and North America. For his contribution on seabuckthorn, Dr. Singh was awarded
“Outstanding Contribution Award on Seabuckthorn” by “International Seabuckthorn Association”
during ISA’s Conference on 4th September 2011 at Xining, China. He has also been honoured with
“Golden Jubilee Endowment Visiting Fellowship Award” by Institute of Chemical Technology,
Mumbai on March, 8, 2013.
Seabuckthorn (Hippophae L.)
A Multipurpose Wonder Plant
Vol. IV: Emerging Trends in Research and Technologies
Editor-in-Chief
Virendra Singh
Associate Editors
Baoru Yang (Finland), Sonika Choudhary (India),
Jorg-Thomas Morsel (Germany), Yury A. Zubarev (Russia),
K. Mohini, Sonika Singh, V.K. Sharma, R.K. Rana and Manohar Lal (India)
2014
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© 2014 EDITOR
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Cataloging in Publication Data—DK
Courtesy: D.K. Agencies (P) Ltd. <[email protected]>
Seabuckthorn (Hippophae L.) : a multipurpose wonder plant / editor-in-chief, Virendra Singh ;
associate editors, Baoru Yang ... [et al.].
v. 4 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v. 4. Emerging trends in research and technologies
E-book ISBN 978-93-5130-155-4
ISBN 9789351242666 (Hardbound)
ISBN 9789351301066 (International Edition)
1. Sea buckthorn. I. Singh, Virendra, 1961- II. Yang, B. (Baoru)
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Dedicated to
Professor Heikki Kallio
by
Dr. Baoru Yang, Professor in Food Development
Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland
PROF. HEIKKI KALLIO AND HIS SEABUCKTHORN
The seabuckthorn research at University of Turku started close to half a century ago, marked by
the pioneering work of Prof. Arne Rousi and his group on the botanical characterization and
description of the global natural populations of Hippophae rhamnoides L. This botanical approach
was extended to a much wider scope covering chemistry, biochemistry, plant physiology, and effects
on human physiology and health by the passionate work of Prof. Heikki Kallio, the Chair of Food
Chemistry at the Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Turku. His work has
not only made seabuckthorn research an important part of the strategy of Food Sciences at the
University of Turku, but also formed significant contribution and promotion to global progress on
research and development of seabuckthorn. Therefore, it has been a long journey on seabuckthorn
with a vision to popularize the plant in his country and globally.
Prof. Heikki Kallio in Seabuckthorn Forest.
THE FIRST VISIT TO CHINA
As a member of an official delegation, representing Finland, Prof. Heikki Kallio participated in
the First International Conference on Seabuckthorn held in Xian, China, in 1989. The other member of
the Finnish delegate was Dr. Kauko Salo from the Finnish Forest Research Institute. At the
conference, Kallio presented a research on supercritical fluid chromatographic-mass spectrometric
analysis of carotenoids in seabuckthorn. He also presented the paper “Evolutionary relationships and
systematics in Hippophae” on the behalf of Prof. Arne Rousi, who was the Rector of the University
of Turku and was not able to participate in the conference because of some other engagements. Prof.
Kallio always recalls the Xian meeting as one of the best seabuckthorn conferences ever organized.
He was deeply impressed by both the successful work of the organizers and the research presented by
Chinese and Russian scientists covering multiple aspects of seabuckthorn. After the meeting, he
visited natural growth sites of seabuckthorn in the mountainous areas and several seabuckthorn
factories in Shaanxi Province. The Xian meeting was a turning point that ignited his true passion on
seabuckthorn and started his cooperation and friendship with his colleagues in China, Russia and
India. At the time, in Finland, seabuckthorn was j ust a tiny berry plant on the coasts of the Baltic Sea,
hardly known by any other people than the fishermen on their islands.
After his first visit to China in 1989, China and seabuckthorn have become very important key
words in the life and work of Prof. Heikki Kallio. He has visited China many times in the following
years as a seabuckthorn expert and had interaction meetings with several Ministers of Water
Resources.
Prof. Heikki Kallio and Prof. Lu Rongsen, Two Seabuckthorn Legends in a Field Study of Wild Seabuckthorn
Resources in Datong County, Qinghai Province, China, in 2011.
SCIENCE ON SEABUCKTHORN FROM FATTY ACID COMPOSITION
AND HEALTH EFFECTS TO GENE EXPRESSION AND METABOLOMICS
The wide spectrum of health benefits of seabuckthorn shown by its use in traditional medicine
and by work of Chinese and Russian scientists was fascinating. As a biochemist, Kallio wanted to
know the composition and biochemical mechanisms behind these health effects. However, the
compositional information on seabuckthorn was quite limited in the literature. In Turku, the work
started with gas chromatographic analysis of fatty acids of seeds and berries of seabuckthorn of
different subspecies. Samples were collected from different parts of the world ranging from the
mountains in North-Western China and the coasts of the Baltic Sea to the Altai Region in Siberia.
After comparison of the total fatty acids, different lipid classes including triacylglycerols and
phospholipids were also analyzed. Later, the chemical analyses covered systematic comparison of
vitamin C, tocopherols, tocotrienols, sterols, flavonoids, lignans, sugars and fruit acids in
seabuckthorn of different subspecies, growth locations, harvesting dates and years. The results were
among the earliest systematic compositional data published on seabuckthorn in peer-reviewed
international journals.
Another major area of seabuckthorn research at Turku is the biological activities of the berries
and different fractions of the berries and their effects on human physiology. Human clinical studies
were carried out together with partners in Finland and other countries to investigate the effects of
seabuckthorn berries and oils on atopic eczema, platelet aggregation, cholesterol levels,
inflammation, liver function, diabetes, and expression of adhesion molecules on endothelial cells of
blood vessels. In addition, a number of studies have been carried out in cooperation with colleagues
in China and Finland to investigate the bioactivities of seabuckthorn using in vitro and other
experimental models, such as effects of seabuckthorn oils on gastric ulcer, wound healing as well as
on DNA and lipid oxidation.
The scientific path of seabuckthorn research of Prof. Heikki Kallios group in Turku proceeds
along with and reflects the progress in the science of chemistry, biochemistry and biology. While the
major methods and analytical tools used in the earlier research were chromatography and mass
spectrometry, the strategic approaches of the most recent work are characterized by NMR analysis for
studying the effects of seabuckthorn on human metabolomics. NMR is also used for finger-printing
seabuckthorn of different origins and gene expression of enzymes for biosyntheses of key metabolites
as a result of interaction between genetic background and environmental factors. This progress and
broadening of scope is reflected in the list of seabuckthorn publications of the research group of
Heikki Kallio (Appendix II).
Along the path, there has been a continuous effort of raising research funds in many small pieces.
Seabuckthorn is not yet a strategically important plant in Finland. The Finnish government has not so
far put much financial resources in seabuckthorn research and development despite the high public
awareness of the health benefits of the berry. Regardless of the challenges, the science progresses in
its own pace.
THE LEGEND OF WORLD’S MOST NORTHERN SEABUCKTHORN
RESEARCH STATION AND SISU
The idea sounded absurd and crazy to many people when Prof. Heikki Kallio and his friend
Hannu Lappalainen planned to transport seabuckthorn bushes pollinated in Sammalmaki in Southern
Finland to Kittila 185 km further north from the Arctic Circle. In Kittila, the temperature drops to as
low as -40 C and the sun does not rise at all for almost two months in winter. But they were crazy and
stubborn enough to do this. The bushes produced berries in the first year. In the following years, the
Russian cultivars died because of the extremely harsh winter. Two Finnish cultivars “Tytti and
Terhi”, transplanted as small shrubs, survived. During the first few years, the crop was nothing to be
mentioned. After some years of growth and acclimation, ripening of berries in bushes started in late
autumn, when the night temperatures are constantly below 0 oC, producing in the end beautiful
yellow-orange berries each year. The ripe berries may remain in bushes over the freezing cold
winter. This is another example showing how the nature makes miracles.
The seabuckthorn bushes in Kittila were originally the properties of the Sammalmaki
Seabuckthorn Society. A part of them were later donated to the University of Turku as the world’s
most northern seabuckthorn experimental site. A range of research has been carried out and is still
ongoing using berries from these bushes. Examples are comparison of composition and physiological
effects of berries of “Tytti and Terhi” grown in Canada, Sammalmaki, and Kittila as well as influence
of growth environment on composition and gene expression of seabuckthorn enzymes.
Pictures (Left): The World’s Most Northern Seabuckthorn Experimental Plot in Kittila Belonging to the University
of Turku. (Right): Seabuckthorn Berries Covered by Frost in Winter in Kittila.
When foreigners get to know Finland and the Finnish people, they often come across the
expression SISU. I have been wondering what SISU really means. The story of Heikki, Hannu, “Tytti
and Terhi” gives me the best interpretation of SISU as a character of the small nation in the far north
on the planet.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND GLOBAL RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT ON SEABUCKTHORN
To promote the global seabuckthorn development, the International Center for Research and
Development of Seabuckthorn (ICRTS) was established in 1995 in China as an organization under the
Ministry of Water Resources. Prof. Heikki Kallio and Mr. Veli-Markku Korteniemi as
representatives of Finland were the members of the Coordinating Committee of ICRTS. Since then,
ICRTS had been the active body organizing various international cooperation and conferences on
seabuckthorn until the establishment of the International Seabuckthorn Association during the
International Seabuckthorn Workshop held at New Delhi in 2001. Prof. Heikki Kallio and his
colleagues in Finland hosted the meeting of the Coordinating Committee of ICRTS in 1997 and the
annual meeting of the Board of International Seabuckthorn Association in June 2012 in Turku.
As the Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Seabuckthorn Association,
Heikki Kallio is committed to the research and development of seabuckthorn at the global scale to
promote the health and well-being of humans and especially the less privileged populations as well
as the environment. In his own research, he has been cooperating with scientists from China, Russia,
India, Germany, England, Canada, and Romania. But his vision, commitment and effort on
seabuckthorn extends far beyond these countries and his own field of research.
SEABUCKTHORN FACTORY IN THE FAR NORTH
Being a scientist with seven years of experience as research director in food industry, Prof.
Kallio has never limited his interest and activities to his laboratory at the University. In early 1990s,
Prof. Heikki Kallio and Mr. Veli-Markku Korteniemi established Aromtech Ltd. Later, the first
supercritical fluid extraction factory in Scandinavia was built in Tornio (Finland), a small town close
to the Arctic Circle. They had a vision of industrial utilization of seabuckthorn and other northern
plant species for promoting human health, in an environment friendly manner. The flagship product of
