R.Kala¹, P.S.Hema¹, S. Dwivedi², O.P.Chaurasia² and A.Banerji¹

Seabuckthorn is known for its multifarious uses. In India, it grows abundantly in the cold deserts of northwestern Himalayas. With a view to identify and isolate the nutraceutically or medicinally important principles, systematic phytochemical investigation on seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) collected from Leh, Ladakh has been undertaken. A protocol for the isolation of phytochemicals has been established. Gross fractionation of the constituents was carried out by sequential extraction with solvents of increasing polarities. For isolation, chemical (selective complexation), fast chromatographic techniques (prep. TLC, column, centrifugal) were used. Characterization was carried out by color reactions, chemical reactions and spectroscopic studies (IR, UV, NMR, MS etc). Different parts of the plants (fruit, seed, leaves) were studied separately. Carotenoids, tocopherols, fatty acids and steroids were obtained from the non-polar fractions. Terpenoids were mainly isolated from the non-saponifiable part of the seed oil.

Phenolics and carbohydrates were obtained from the polar fractions In addition to xanthophylls (minor constituents), b -carotene was the major carotenoid in fruit and seeds. Sitosterol was identified as major steroid. Substantial amount of ursolic acid was found in the seeds and leaves. b -Amyrin, uvaol were prsent as minor terpenoids. Analysis of fatty acid revealed the presence of palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid. The polar fractions contained complex glycosides of flavonoids. Presence of glycosides (mainly glucosides) of isorhamnetin and kaempferol was established. However the amounts of ascorbic acid and flavonoids were combatively low when compared to the data from literature. Further, the levels of the phytochemicals show great variations depending on the physiological stage and geographical location.