Impact of location on composition of selected phytochemicals in wild sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides; SB) is rich in many essential nutrients and an ideal crop for the sub Himalayan region in India, as well as other marginal lands with extreme weather conditions. Naturally growing SB from selected geographical locations in India and Sweden were evaluated for total lipid content, fatty acid composition, carotenoids, tocopherols, sterols and phenolic compounds, as well as for untargeted metabolite profiles. Principal component and partial least squares analyses of targeted data showed similar distinctions between Swedish and Indian locations in the first component, attributed to differences in total lipids, individual fatty acids and phenols. The second component distinguished between Indian locations, predominantly due to differences in fatty acids, sitostanol, lutein and caffeic acid. Untargeted analysis by LC MS metabolomics analysis confirmed that variability from targeted analysis was representative of overall variability. All analyses of targeted and untargeted data indicated a large systematic variability in phytochemicals in relation to sampling location. The results have implications for optimisation of agronomical factors for differential use of SB as a source for food and nutraceuticals and further downstream for increased profitability for the sub-Himalayan and other regions with suitable growing conditions for sea buckthorn. The results also clearly showed that differences between locations were well captured with a few targeted analyses.