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  SEA-BUCKTHORN
Sea-buckthorn is an extremely diverse and promising crop. Cultivating it is both friendly to the environment and economical - most of the plant can be used in one way or another. Sea-buckthorn is also most healthful, it is not easy to find a match for it in terms of its content of various health-promoting substances. In the face of it all, it is quite strange that sea-buckthorn is not a very popular crop in Estonia. Here we are determined to change this. After all, sea-buckthorn was the most populous plant here after the last ice-age, and our specially developed techniques for getting high-quality products out of it are far better than back then.

Legends tell us about the ancient Greek who used to add sea-buckthorn leaves and young branches to the fodder of racing horses. It had such an effect on them that made their coats glisten in no time. We have tried it on modern-day horses as well - does indeed work. The leaves of sea-buckthorn are said to have been the favourite dish of the winged horse Pegasus as well - hence the name of the plant (hippos is the Greek word for a horse, phaos - shiny).

Berries, leaves, bark and seeds of sea-buckthorn have been used since olden times - as a medicine sea-buckthorn was already mentioned in the Tibetan chronicles 800 years BC. Forgotten for the Western world for a long time, it was rediscovered in the 1930s Russia; in Estonia the industrial cultivation of sea-buckthorn is a phenomenon of the recent years.
  MEDICAL QUALITIES
Berries of sea-buckthorn are one of the most perfect sources of herbal vitamins. They have a high content of vitamin C (depending on the breed 150-1600 mg %), also of vitamins B1, B2, B6, B15, P, K and E, as well as carotenoids. Fresh berries are also rich in choline, flavonoids, coumarins, tannins, ethereal oils, fatty acids and minerals. The perfection of this coctail has throughout the centuries fed the speculations about a scientist of the ancient world having bred the plant.

As a medicine, sea-buckthorn berries, juice, leaves, bark and oil from seeds is used. Sea-buckthorn stimulates the immune system and invigorates the hormonal system. It is recommended as a general tonic agent in cases of flu and other virus diseases, asthenic conditions and intoxications as well as after surgeries and traumas. Read more..

CULTIVATION
Growing sea-buckthorn is a lot cheaper compared to other cultures because:
- No extensive tillage work is needed - the grounds of sea-buckthorn plantations are kept as lawns;
- Need for mineral fertilizers is minimal - just like leguminous plants, sea-buckthorn grows in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing Frankia bacteria and can obtain nitrogen from air;
- Sea-buckthorn has no major biological pests, therefore no pesticides need to be applied;
- Harvesting has been mechanized.
Read more..

  
Sõmerpalu Manor, Sõmerpalu, Võrumaa 66601, Estonia, tel: +372 509 1069, fax: +372 789 6341, e-mail: astelpaju@astelpaju.ee