Healthy benefits of sea buckthorn pulp and seed oils

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is one of the valuable plants widely cultivated in mountainous areas of Asia.

According to different extraction positions, sea buckthorn oil could be divided into sea buckthorn pulp oils and sea buckthorn seed oils, both of them are rich in tocopherols and phytosterols, especially α-tocopherol and β-sitosterol, which correlates to anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties of sea buckthorn oil.In addition, previous studies have reported that sea buckthorn oil has antimicrobial, anti-aging and anti-cancer properties benefiting human health.

To further explore the health benefits of sea buckthorn oil, we investigate the beneficial effects of sea buckthorn pulp oils and sea buckthorn seed oils in different ways. On the one hand, refining sea buckthorn pulp oil improves oxidative stability index and anti-inflammatory potentials. Specifically, refined sea buckthorn pulp oil significantly decreases inflammatory cytokines in LPS induced Caco-2 cells, and increases oxidative stability index. On the other hand, in the lipid metabolism disorder model of C57/B6L mice, 12-week intervention of sea buckthorn oil improves lipid metabolism, such as reducind visceral fat accumulation, adipose cell size, serum and hepatic triglyceride, LDL-C levels. Additionally, sea buckthorn oil also increased gut microbiota diversity with a higher abundance of Lactobacillus, Roseburia, and Oscillibacter, which leads to a potential mechanism between the correlation of liver and microbiota.

Finally, our previous research can provide the academic foundation for the usage of sea buckthorn oil as a food ingredient for functional products.