Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture J Sci Food Agric 86:2345–2353 (2006) Integrated processing of fresh Indian sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) berries and chemical evaluation of products Ranjith Arimboor, 1 VV Venugopalan, 1 K Sarinkumar, 1 C Arumughan 1∗ and Ramesh Chand Sawhney 2 1 Agroprocessing and Natural Products Division, Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Trivandrum 695019, Kerala, India 2 Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, DRDO, Delhi 110054, India Abstract: An efficient pilot-scale process was developed to produce nutraceutical products from fresh sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) berries. Fresh berries were subjected to high-pressure dewatering using a continuous screw press. The separated liquid phase containing 80–90% of pulp oil was clarified at 80 ◦ C and centrifuged to obtain pulp oil, clear juice and sludge. The pulp oil yield was 2.7–2.8% of fresh berry weight with 66–70% extraction efficiency. The pulp oil was remarkably rich in carotenoids (2450–2810 mg kg −1 ), tocopherols (1409 – 1599 mg kg −1 ) and sterols (4096 – 4403 mg kg −1 ), with a characteristic fresh berry flavour and 16:1 as the major fatty acid (45.6–49.1%). The clear juice obtained was free from oil and contained high amounts of vitamin C (1683–1840 mg kg −1 ) and phytochemicals such as polyphenols (2392–2821 mg kg −1 ) and flavonoids (340 – 401 mg kg −1 ). Isorhamnetin (251 – 310 mg kg −1 ) was the major flavonoid in the juice, along with quercetin (77 – 81 mg kg −1 ) and kaempherol (12–16 mg kg −1 ). The juice was very acidic (pH 3), with high concentrations of organic acids (30.8–36.0 g kg −1 ). High-performance liquid chromatography profiling of organic acids revealed quinic acid (18.1–19.9 g kg −1 ) as the major acid in the juice. The seeds in the pressed cake were separated and extracted for oil using supercritical CO 2 .  2006 Society of Chemical Industry Keywords: sea buckthorn; Hippophae rhamnoides; supercritical CO 2 extraction; carotenoids; tocopherols; sterols; fatty acids; polyphenols; flavonoids; organic acids; vitamin C INTRODUCTION Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) (SB), a plant of the Elaeagnaceae family with very high nutraceuti- cal and therapeutic values, is grown in Asia, Europe and North America. SB is adapted to cold, drought as well as saline and alkaline soils. Its vigorous pro- duction of vegetation and its strong and complex root system with nitrogen-fixing nodules make SB an opti- mal pioneer plant for water and soil conservation in eroded areas. 1 The most valuable part of the plant is its berries, with a long history of application in Tibetan and Mongolian medicines. The ripe berries of H. rhamnoides are orange/red in colour and have a diameter of 10–15 mm, with a soft, fleshy outer tissue and a hard seed. The berries are rich in vita- mins, polyphenols, organic acids and bioactive lipids. A wide spectrum of physiological effects of SB berries and berry products have been reported, including inhi- bition of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol oxidation and platelet aggregation, reduction of atopic dermatitis, immunomodulation, cytoprotective effects and protection from gastric ulcers. 2–6 Being a good source of bioactive phytochemicals, SB berries have been processed by hundreds of industries in China and Russia for nutraceutical and cosmaceutical products. Reports describing the processing of SB berries are rather limited. Juice, pulp oil, seed oil, cream and pigments are the main commercial products from SB berries. Juice obtained by the conventional processing technique is reported to be turbid, with a high content of suspended solids and pulp oil. 7 Juice with pulp oil leads to the formation of an undesirable oily layer on the top during storage. Centrifugation of unheated juice causes rapid separation into a floating cream phase, an opalescent clear juice in the middle and a sediment. Zhang et al . 8 suggested the use of a stalk centrifuge or a cream separator to separate the cream from the juice. Liu and Liu 9 reported the use of pectin methyl esterase to break down pectins in the pulp to obtain clear juice. Heilscher and Lorber 10 reported the use of crystalline sugar for sedimentation and subsequent centrifugation for clear juice. The efficiency of pulp oil recovery varies widely with the design of the press. Solvent extraction has been tried for oil recovery, but it is not recommended for nutraceutical applications owing to the residual solvents and the destruction of bioactive phytochemicals during desolventisation. Supercritical CO 2 extraction has been suggested for superior- quality, solvent-free oil. 11 However, the berries must ∗ Correspondence to: C Arumughan, Agroprocessing and Natural Products Division, Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Trivandrum 695019, Kerala, India E-mail: carumughan@yahoo.com Contract/grant sponsor: Defense Research and Development Organization (India) (Received 13 October 2005; revised version received 29 March 2006; accepted 5 July 2006) Published online 4 October 2006; DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.2620  2006 Society of Chemical Industry. J Sci Food Agric 0022–5142/2006/$30.00