Sea buckthorn

We talk about sea buckthorn and our experiences with the beautiful orange berries that we grow on Bornholm.

When we established our own sea buckthorn plantation back in the spring of 2010, it was with cuttings bought in Sweden and Germany. At that time, it was not possible to find selected varieties of sea buckthorn in Denmark.

Today, there are not many nurseries where sea buckthorn is not a regular part of the range. Varieties and guidance are under control and a great deal has happened to knowledge and interest in sea buckthorn over the past 10 years.

There are many different varieties of sea buckthorn, more than 60. And sea buckthorn is what you call 'species', which means that there are male and female plants. Only female plants get berries. But no berries without pollination from male plants.

Below you can see a picture of a female plant in the spring and a male plant. It is possible to tell the difference once you know what to look for.

In the spring, the female plants first get small silver-green flowers and after them the leaves spring out. The small brown 'cones' found on the male plants contain the pollen that pollinates the female plants during April/May.

Sea buckthorn harvest:

Sea buckthorn sits close to the bush's thorn-filled branches and can be difficult to pick. Therefore, the harvest takes place by cutting branches from the bush, freezing them and then knocking the berries and leaves off the branches.

This is the harvesting method and has no effect on the taste of sea buckthorn. In between, sea buckthorn is mixed with slåen berries, which precisely contain bitter substances that must be frosted to become sweet enough to use. But this is not the case for sea buckthorn, here freezing is just part of the harvesting method. Or i.e. this harvesting method is used because the juice in sea buckthorn has a high content of oils and if the berry is not frozen immediately after harvesting, this oil will start to go rancid and give the berry a bad taste.

It is sea buckthorn season in August and September. Here the berries are ripe and taste fantastic. Our own varieties are usually harvested from the second week in August and then we have a later variety which is harvested in September. Wild buckthorn is usually a little later. But we recommend that you taste the berries, throughout the season and preferably before, because the green unripe sea buckthorn can also be used in a kitchen.

For household needs, you can easily pick a few kilos by hand.

Botanically, sea buckthorn is a nut, with a set of fruits around it. Each small orange berry contains a kernel (nut) the size of a linseed. These kernels contain kernel oil , which consists of 87% unsaturated fatty acids. Most of the K and E vitamins are found in this oil.

Properties of sea buckthorn:

Since we also sell sea buckthorn products, we have been told that we must not also talk about the nutritional content and the good properties of sea buckthorn. That's why you won't find any information about this here, although of course we know a lot, having worked with sea buckthorn for more than 10 years.

There is a lot of information on the internet, also about sea buckthorn, and it can be difficult to see which is correct and which has been uncritically copied and used. So if you would like to delve into the nutritional content of the sea buckthorn berry itself, we can recommend Frida.fooddata.dk. And then it may be good to remember that some vitamins are sensitive to heat, light and oxygen and therefore quickly decay when processing the raw material.

We get lots of feedback from people who think they benefit from e.g. to drink our sea buckthorn juice and we are happy about that, but our basic philosophy is that our products must taste good and be simple and transparent. Favorites are good, but variety is golden.

We eagerly follow the scientific studies on sea buckthorn, and continuously work to test the content of our own sea buckthorn, leaves and kernel oil.

Sea buckthorn berries

Sea buckthorn berries can be divided into shell, juice and core. The berry has virtually no pulp structure, but is almost just a nut with juice and shell around it. The raw juice is divided into 3 parts: At the top is the fruit juice oil. In the middle is the fruit juice, with most of the flavor. This juice is relatively clear and has a pH value between 2.6 and 4.2. The bottom layer of juice may contain some sediment from the peels that have come through the press. We get about 90% of the berry weight into juice, but this can vary slightly, depending on variety, ripeness and pressing efficiency.

Sea buckthorn grows wild on the country's coasts

Sea buckthorn is a pioneer growth, and is believed to be one of the first plants to establish itself after the last ice age. It probably started inland, where there were open spaces, but over time other plants have driven it out to the coast, where it can stand undisturbed and get plenty of sun. It is also along the coast that you find most wild sea buckthorn today, but they can also be found in abandoned gravel pits or other places where not much else grows.

Sea buckthorn has nitrogen-fixing tubers on the roots, and thus carries its own 'food package'. The bush does well in nutrient-poor soil, e.g. sandy soil. Our bushes are grown in clay soil, and this hardy plant can handle that too.