HIPPOPHAE (Seabuckthorn)

Scientific name: Hippophae salicifolia

Common name: Seabuckthorn

Lepcha: Ree-singri

Bhutia: Tarobo

Nepali : Ghanguru or Achuk

Family: Elaeagnaceae

Hippophae is one of the fascinating and valuable plant species of Sikkim. It is the native of Europe and Asia and has been  known and used by humans for centuries. It is mentioned in the writings of ancient Greek scholars such as Dioscorid and Theophrastus. In ancient Greece, seabuckthorn  was known as an excellent dietary supplement for horses. Feeding leaves and young branches of Seabuckthorn resulted in rapid weight gain and shiny coat in horse. This, in fact, gave the name to the plant in Latin 'Hippo'- horse, Phaos'-shining horse (Rongsen, 1992). History of Seabuckthorn, botaqnically, can be traced back to the age of Vedas and has been under use in Europe and Asia for centuries. Its utilities were mentioned in ancient Greek philosophy. The distribution of the plant has been over a larger jpart of the globe including mostly in the temperate zones. Seabuckthorn is a throny, deciduous shrub or a small tree (Singh, 1998), or a big tree (Basistha, 2000). The plant bears foliage from April to November, flowers during June - July for  a week and fruits are formed during mid August to April. Female plant bears red yellow or  orange coloured fruits 1 cm across (Singh, 1998). In Sikkim hills, the flowering starts in the month of March for a week to ten days and fruiting starts from April, ripens during late October - early November and retains till March to April.

            The root system of seabuckthorn is highly developed and therefore presents excellent biotic system for holding soil on fragile slopes of Sikkim Himalayas. In many cases, five year old plants have taproot of up to 3 m deep and horizontal roots extending between  6-10 m. after 2-3 years of growth, root turion seedlings sprout from the horizontal roots creating many new generation plants (Rongsen,1992).  In India, Hippophae grows naturally in high altitude areas of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh (Singh, 1998) and Sikkim (Basistha,2000). In Sikkim Himalayas, the plant grows on the riverside torrential slides and sun facing aspects or slopes in Lachen and Lachung valleys of North Sikkim. The local seabuckthorn, in Sikkim, grows generally in altitude range between 2280 to 3300 m.

USES

1.   Food Fruit juice, Syrup juice, carbonated juice, sweets, Wine, Champagne Beer, Jam, Tea, Dye, Chocolate, etc.

2.   Medicine Cancer, Blood Pressure, Gastric Ulcer, Burns, Chemical danger, Palstic surgery, Cough, Ageing, Memory loss, etc.

3.   Beauty cream makes skin fair, clean and delicate. Therapeutic efficacy on skin, wrinkle, Skin sclerosis, etc.

4.   Cosmetics Improve the micro-circulation of capillary vessel, nourishes skin, hair and care 16 tropical diseases of scabies, etc.

The existing project is supported by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and it will emphasize to undergo study on Ecological parameters and Genetic Diversity of Frankia associated with it in Sikkim.

1.  Title of the Project             :    Ecological Studies of Sea buckthorn and Genetic Diversity of Frankia Associated With it in Sikkim.

2   Date of Sanction                :    01.01.2009

3   Name of PI/CoPI              :    Shri.B.C.Basistha (Principal Investigator).

OBJECTIVES: 

1. Survey of the Hippophae growing area of Sikkim.

2. Collection and maintenance of Hippophae  Germplasm from Sikkim.

3. Ecological and Taxonomical Studies of native Hippophae and Frankia of Sikkim using descriptors.

4. Analysis of soil of native Hippophae with reference to pH, moisture , amount of organic carbon , available nitrogen , calcium , magnesium , 

    potassium and phosphorous.

   5. Providing research materials like fruits , leaves , etc of  Hippophae  to different institutes of the country (India) for biochemical research.

   6. Isolation of Frankia associates with roots of native Hippophae.  

   7. Genetic diversity studies of Frankia spp.Associated with native Hippophae root nodules.

   PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

   Shri. B.C. Basistha

   Sr. Scientific Officer

   Sikkim State Council of Science & Technology

   Co. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

   Shri. K.B. Subba

   Sr. Research Assistant

   Sikkim State Council of Science & Technology

   PROJECT STAFF:

REFERENCE

Lu. Rongsen (1992). Seabuckthorn a multipurpose plant species for fragile mountain. ICMOD occasional paper NO.20, Katmandu, Nepal

Singh,V. (1998). Isolation and nitrogen fixing activity of Frankia sp. strain cp 11 vesicles. J. Bacteriology 168:301-305.

Basistha, B.C. Vivipary in Seabuckthorn (Hippophae salicifolia D.Don), Journal of Hill Research Vol.14 (1), pp.67. Sikkim Science Society, Gangtok.