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Received 02 November 2009
Defence Science Journal, Vol. 60, No. 2, March 2010, pp. 226-230
Ó 2010, DESIDOC
1. INTRODUCTION
A significant portion of worlds geography lies above
10,000 feet above mean sea level, an arbitrary designation
that separates moderate and high altitude. Some of these
mountainous high altitude lands are populated by indigenous
people. Due to strategic reason and unique landscape, a
large number of soldiers, adventurers, and tourists from
low land travel to high altitude for work or recreation,
exposing themselves to several environmental challenges.
Physiological stresses from reduced partial pressure of
oxygen, cold temperature, intense solar radiation, high winds,
difficult terrains, and a lack of nutritious diet, all contribute
to decrease physical and mental performance at high altitudes.
Nutritional requirement of the people, who travel to
high altitude, forms an important consideration for maintaining
highest level of mental and physical fitness. Due to
environmental factors, the nutritional requirements at high
altitude are different from that of sea level. Increased energy
expenditure ranging, from 6.9 per cent to 25 per cent has
been reported at high altitude1,2 primarily due to increase
in basal metabolic rate during initial days of acclimatization.
Heavier load carried by the people as cold protective garments
and efforts in walking on snowbound hilly terrains also
demands high energy expenditure3. The energy expenditure
by Indian troops at 2700 to 4500 m and >4500 m works
out to 3800 kcal/day and 4270 kcal/day, respectively as
Attributes of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) to
Meet Nutritional Requirements in High Altitude
Tsering Stobdan*, O.P. Chaurasia, Girish Korekar, Sunil Mundra, Zulfikar Ali,
Ashish Yadav, and Shashi Bala Singh
Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DRDO), Leh-Ladakh-194101, India
*E-mail: ts_mbb@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The diet of humans living in different geographical and climatic regions of the earth varies greatly in both
quantity and composition of foods. Evidence is accumulating that indicates that there is a high risk of malnutrition
at high altitude because of the usual lack of fresh food and environmental factors. Lack of nutritious diet in
the difficult terrain is a potential stressor that elicits oxidative stress. The excretion of minerals from the body
is higher in high altitude condition. The altered nutritional requirement can be met to a large extend by regular
consumption of locally grown fruits and vegetables. Results of analysis of Seabuckthorn growing in Leh valley
of Trans-Himalaya showed the presence of high content of multivitamins including vitamin C (275 mg/100g),
vitamin A (432.4 IU/100g), vitamin E (3.54 mg/100g), Riboflavin (1.45 mg/100g), Niacin (68.4 mg/100g),
Pantothenic acid (0.85 mcg/100g), vitamin B-6 (1.12 mg/100g), and vitamin B-2 (5.4 mcg/100g). Similarly,
mineral elements composition revealed high amount of minerals including potassium (647.2 mg/l), calcium
(176.6 mg/l), iron (30.9 mg/l), magnesium (22.5 mg/l), phosphorous (84.2 mg/l), sodium (414.2 mg/l), zinc (1.4
mg/l), copper (0.7 mg/l), manganese (1.06 mg/l) and selenium (0.53 mg/l).
Keywords: Hippophae rhamnoides L., high altitude, nutrition, Seabuckthorn
compare to 3511 kcal/day at sea level. Negative nitrogen
balance is reported at high altitude mainly due to decrease
in food intake. Investigation on nitrogen metabolism during
acute induction and after long-term stay at high altitude
of Indian soldiers indicates positive nitrogen balance at
dietary intake of 75 g protein. As regards the electrolyte
balance, increased urinary excretions of Na+ and K+ on
exposure to hypoxia are reported by some workers4-6, while
others7,8 have found only increase in Na+ with decrease
in K+ excretion. Chatterjee9, et al. have found decrease
level of magnesium and calcium excretion along with increased
level in serum during acute hypoxic exposure in human at
altitude of 3770 m. Urinary excretion of Zn+ is found more
during an expedition to Mt Everest. Reduced zinc level is
associated with anorexia. There is no evidence to show
any increase requirement of iron10. A balance between the
blood formation and destruction at high altitude is found
and it is documented that 10 mg to 15 mg of iron along
with the blood stores could meet the needs of increased
hemoglobin synthesis during course of physiological
readjustment, those take place at the time of early phase
of high altitude stay11. It is therefore, possible to achieve
normal balance of most of the ions at high altitude with
adequate intake of mineral-rich diet.
A considerable body of literature exists documenting
that the production of free radicals increases in human
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STOBDAN, et al.: ATTRIBUTES OF SEABUCKTHORN TO MEET NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IN HIGH ALTITUDE
227
Celebrating Sixty Years of Publication
exposed to the environment associated with high altitude.
Free radicals may be very damaging since these induce
oxidation, which causes membrane damage, protein modification,
and DNA damage. Thus, oxidative damage is considered
to play a causative role in aging and several degenerative
diseases associated with it, such as heart disease, cataracts,
cognitive dysfunction and cancer12. Potential sources of
stressors that might elicit the oxidative stress response
at high altitudes include exercise, ultra violet radiation,
catecholamines, anoxia/reoxygenation, hypoxanthine, xanthine
oxidase, and reductive stress. In addition to the natural
constraints, nutritional needs play a vital role13. The defence
system, that prevents the body from free radicals damage,
is called as antioxidants. Human being have evolved antioxidant
systems to protect against free radicals. These systems
include some endogenous antioxidants produced in the
body and exogenous antioxidant obtained from the diet.
Well-established dietary antioxidants are vitamin C, E, A,
and carotenoids. Besides these antioxidants, other substances
in plants such as polyphenols are an important class of
defence antioxidants. Antioxidant nutrients as well as selenium,
copper, zinc, and manganese may, therefore, be required
in greater amount in high altitude environment to prevent
oxidative stress. These antioxidants act in a concerted
manner to combat the oxidative stress arising from different
sources. b-carotene protects against photo-immuno-suppression
caused by long-wave UV radiation encountered in outdoor
condition14. Antioxidant vitamin C is recommended in high
altitude during rough weather when supply of fresh fruits
and vegetables becomes limited15,16.
Providing required nutritional support to those who
travel to high altitude need to take into consideration local
availability of food material with desired nutritional qualities.
Due to difficult terrain and logistic constraints at high
altitudes, it is not always possible to ensure supply of
fresh fruits and vegetables from low land. Among the fruits
and vegetable that grow at high altitude, seabuckthorn is
a promising plant species, which has potential to meet
Figure 1. Seabuckthorn fruit berry.
diverse nutritional needs at high altitudes thereby contributing
towards ameliorating high altitude maladies.
Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a unique
and valuable plant species for cold arid region. It bears
red, orange or yellow fruit (Fig. 1). Every part of the plant,
viz., fruit, leaf, twig, root, and thorn has been traditionally
used as medicine, nutritional supplement, fire wood, and
as fence. Seabuckthorn fruits are among the most nutritious
of all berries and have immense medicinal properties. The
plant has been extensively exploited for treatment of sluggish
digestion, stomach malfunctioning, thrombosis, hepatic
injury, tendon and ligament injuries, ulcer and cancer.
Seabuckthorn extract possess antibacterial activities and
also shows protective effect against the toxic effect of
mustard gas, a chemical warfare agent. It has potential to
play a crucial role in the development of cold arid fragile
areas and provides natures cure to a number of diseases.
Many of the claims associated with seabuckthorn are
related to high nutritive value in terms of vitamins, carbohydrate,
macro and micronutrient elements. The present study is
an attempt to assess biochemical composition of seabuckthorn
growing in Leh valley in Trans-Himalaya. Such information
is expected to help people who travel to high altitude to
use locally available wild fruit for offsetting some of the
deleterious effects of stay at high altitude through nutritional
supplementation. The result of this study will also help
in optimising the composition of various seabuckthorn
products and to identify the mechanisms behind the
physiological effects.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Fresh and ripe fruit berries were manually collected
during September 2008 from 96 randomly selected healthy
mother plants from Leh valley in Trans-Himalaya. Equal
quantities of the berries from each plant were pooled together
and juice was extracted. The biochemical constitutes and
mineral element composition of the pooled sample was
performed following standard methodologies. The parameters
studied along with standard test methods were moisture
(IS 4706:1978); total sugar (IS 4079:2000); minerals including
calcium, iron, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, sodium,
zinc, copper, manganese, selenium (AOAC). Vitamins including
riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, vitamin
B-12, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin C were determined by
High Pressure Liquid Chromatography technique while energy
was determined by National Institute of Nutrition standard
technique.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The nutritive value of seabuckthorn berries of cold
desert Leh valley is summarised in Table 1. The nutritive
values of other important fruit crops like mango, apricot,
banana, orange and peach are also presented in the Table
for comparison. Energy release by 100 g seabuckthorn
berry pulp was 62.9 kcal, which is higher than that of
apricot (48 kcal), orange (45 kcal) and peach (39 kcal). It
contains 2.86 per cent total sugar of which glucose and
DEF SCI J, VOL. 60, NO. 2, MARCH 2010
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Celebrating Sixty Years of Publication
fructose accounts for 86.3 per cent. The seabuckthorn
berries therefore contain lesser sugar than other fruits.
Seabuckthorn is rich in antioxidant vitamins including
vitamin C, E, and A. The seabuckthorn pulp of Leh valley
region contains 275 mg vitamin C per 100g pulp. In comparison
to other fruits, seabuckthorn as a rich source of vitamin
C is evident. Vitamin C is a natural water-soluble antioxidant
which inhibits peroxidation of membrane phospholipids
and acts as scavenger of free radicals17. It also plays a
major role in regeneration of vitamin E. The vitamin E
content of the pulp was found 3.54 mg/100g, which is
higher than that of mango (1.12 mg), apricot (0.89 mg),
banana (0.1 mg), orange (0.04 mg) and peach (0.03 mg).
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin known to be one of the
most potent antioxidant. It breaks the propagation of the
free radical chain reaction in the lipid of biological membrane18.
Deficiency of vitamin E influenced the endogenous antioxidant,
system and hence, important in high altitude diet. The
antioxidant vitamin A concentration in seabuckthorn was
found 432.4 IU/100g which is higher than that of banana
(64), orange (200) and peach (326). The vitamin possesses
antioxidant activity somewhat analogous to that of vitamin
E and therefore forms important constituent of high altitude
diet. There are indications that oxidative stress is a causative
factor in health hazards associated with high altitude including
chronic or intermittent hypoxia, acute mountain sickness
(AMS), high altitude pulmonary edema (HEPE) and high
altitude cerebral edema (HACE). Antioxidant supplementation
in the diet, therefore, forms an important consideration to
reduce oxidative stress at high altitude. The body endogenous
antioxidant system is somewhat decreasing at high altitude.
It appears that exposure to high altitude decreases the
activity and content of some antioxidant enzymes. Moreover,
the effectiveness of thiol system is also reduced by high
altitude. High UV radiation, which increases with increase
in altitude, results in enhanced free radical formation contribute
to oxidative stress. There are indications that antioxidant
supplementation seems to be an important and natural tool
to reduce the induced oxidative stress19.
Seabuckthorn pulp also contains high amount of riboflavin
(1.45 mg/100g), niacin (68.4 mg/100g), pantothenic acid
(0.85 mcg/100g), vitamin B-6 (1.12 mg/100g), and vitamin
B-2 (5.4 mcg/100g) in comparison to other fruits (Table 1).
Source of multivitamin from a single fruit type is of special
interest in cold desert, high altitude environmental conditions.
Difficult terrain and logistic constrains at high altitude
Table 1. Nutritional value of seabuckthorn pulp and its comparison with raw mango, apricot, banana, orange juice, peach
Fruit crops Constituents
Sea buckthorn Mango20 Apricot20 Banana20 Orange20 Peach20
Moisture, % 83.94 81.71 86.35 74.91 88.3 88.87
Energy, kcal/100g 62.9 65 48 89.0 45 39
Total sugar, % 2.86 14.8 9.24 12.23 8.4 8.39
Minerals
Calcium, mg/l 176.6 100 130 50 110 60
Iron, mg/l 30.9 1.3 3.9 2.6 2.0 2.5
Magnesium, mg/l 22.5 90 100 270 110 90
Phosphorous, mg/l 84.2 110 230 220 170 200
Potassium, mg/l 647.2 1560 2590 3580 2000 1900
Sodium, mg/l 414.9 20 10 10 10 0
Zinc, mg/l 1.4 0.4 2.0 1.5 0.5 1.7
Copper, mg/l 0.7 1.1 0.78 0.78 0.44 0.68
Manganese, mg/l 1.1 0.27 0.77 2.7 0.14 0.61
Vita mins
Riboflavin, mg/100g 1.45 0.057 0.04 0.073 0.030 0.031
Niacin, mg/100g 68.4 0.584 0.6 0.665 0.4 0.806
Pantothenic acid, mg/100g 0.85 0.160 0.24 0.334 0.19 0.153
Vitamin B-6, mg/100g 1.12 0.134 0.054 0.367 0.04 0.025
Vitamin B-12, mcg/100g 5.4 0 0 0 0 0
Vitamin C, mg/100g 275 27.7 10.0 8.7 50.0 6.6
Vitamin A, IU/100g 432.4 765 1926 64.0 200 326
Vitamin E, mg/100g 3.45 1.12 0.89 0.1 0.04 0.73
STOBDAN, et al.: ATTRIBUTES OF SEABUCKTHORN TO MEET NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IN HIGH ALTITUDE
229
Celebrating Sixty Years of Publication
often pose problem in making available fresh fruits and
vegetables, especially during winter months. Therefore,
seabuckthorn products can act as locally available alternate
substitute to fresh fruits and vegetables to meet nutritional
requirements at high altitudes.
Seabuckthorn is rich source of minerals. Potassium
(647.2 mg/l) is the most abundant of all the elements investigated.
Mineral element composition revealed a high content of
calcium (176.6 mg/l), iron (30.9 mg/l), magnesium (22.5 mg/
l), phosphorous (84.2 mg/l), sodium (414.2 mg/l), zinc (1.4
mg/l), copper (0.7 mg/l), manganese (1.06 mg/l) and selenium
(0.53 mg/l) (Table 1). The seabuckthorn content of calcium,
iron, sodium, zinc and manganese is much higher than
mango, apricot, banana, orange and peach. Requirement
of mineral is generally high at high altitude condition because
of increased excretion of electrolytes. There is a greater
requirement of selenium, copper, zinc and manganese at
high altitude to prevent oxidative stress. Use of seabuckthorn
as nutritional supplement can help to maintain a normal
balance of most of the ions.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Seabuckthorn is a rich source of vitamins and mineral
elements. High content of vitamins and minerals in a single
fruit type is of special interest in difficult terrain of high
altitude with logistic constraints. The berries are a good
source of antioxidant vitamins as well as minerals like copper,
zinc and manganese which are required in greater amount
at high altitude environment to prevent oxidative stress.
Nutritional analysis of seabuckthorn berries suggests that
the fruit can fulfill most of the nutritional requirements at
high altitude. Consumption of the berries also indicates
attenuating at least a portion of high altitude induced
oxidative damage. The efficacy of seabuckthorn in human
facing hostile high altitude environmental conditions needs
evaluation.
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Contributors
Mr Tsering Stobdan obtained his PhD
in Molecular Biology & Biotechnology
from Indian Agricultural Research Institute,
New Delhi. Presently, he is working on
seabuckthorn at Defence Institute of
High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh.
Dr Om Prakash Chaurasia obtained
his PhD in Botany from Magadh
University, Bodh Gaya, Bihar in 1992.
He has extensively surveyed trans-
Himalayan belts of Ladakh and Lahaul-
Spiti and documented the fragile plant
biodiversity and its ethnobotanical wealth.
He has also worked on flora of Andaman
& Nicobar Islands.
Mr Girish Korekar is a Research Fellow
at Defence Institute of High Altitude
Research, Leh. He is working on genetic
diversity of seabuckthorn.
Mr Sunil Mundra is research fellow
at Defence Institute of High Altitude
Research, Leh. He is working on
metagenomics of seabuckthorn rhizosphere.
Mr Ashish Yadav obtained his PhD in
Horticulture from GB Pant University
of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar
with specialisation in conservation &
evaluation of temperate fruit crops. He
also earned Post Doctoral Research
Fellowship from 2004-2007 at Fort Valley
State University, Georgia, USA. Presently
working as a Scientist in DIHAR.
Dr Shashi Bala Singh has obtained
her MSc and PhD in Physiology from
All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
New Delhi, in 1980 and 1986, respectively.
Presently she is working as a Director,
DIHAR, Leh. She has rich experience
in the field of high altitude human
physiology. She has developed a method
for ameliorating hypophagia by taking
gingerbased appetizers before meal. She has also contributed
in the development of supplementation with antioxidant and
cholromimetic drugs to improve high altitude induced impairment
in cognitive functions.
