Sea buckthorn-Nutritional composition, Bioactivity, Safety, and Applications: A Review

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a deciduous shrub of Hippophae, Elaeagnaceae, which is cultivated worldwide. Sea buckthorn contains carbohydrates, phenolic compositions, vitamins, amino acids, proteins, minerals, fatty acids, carotenoids, organic acids, terpenoids, and steroids. It has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardioprotective, regulation of glycolipid, and immunomodulatory activities. So far, it is still used for both medicine and food. This review discusses the compositions information of sea buckthorn plants, summarizes and sorts out the mechanism of main biological activities, and provides a comprehensive information resource for the development of the sea buckthorn in various fields. Finally, it was clarified that sea buckthorn is a potential functional food raw material, but the research on molecular mechanism, bioavailability, structure activity relationships, and the interactions between various bioactive compositions are limited, and further research is still needed.