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Brandon Sun - ONLINE EDITION

Health food super fruit drawing raves

Seabuckthorn berry considered rich in range of benefits

By: Bill Redekop

9/07/2010 8:42 AM | Comments: 8

Dauphin-area farmer Chris Federowich holds up branch of immature seabuckthorn berries. He was one of the first Manitobans to try growing the berries.

BILL REDEKOPP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

Dauphin-area farmer Chris Federowich holds up branch of immature seabuckthorn berries. He was one of the first Manitobans to try growing the berries.

ASHVILLE -- It's easy to see why seabuckthorn, the latest health food super fruit, has had such a long run in Darwin's survival-of-the-fittest show.

Seabuckthorn berries are hard to pick.

Enlarge Image

Seabuckthorn berries are hard to pick.

Seabuckthorn branches have five-centimetre-long thorns that slash your arm like talons if you try to pick their berries. Blackbirds that normally feast on fruit trees won't go near seabuckthorn. Deer refuse to nibble its leaves.

It's also easy to understand why health food enthusiasts rave about it--one small berry contains as much vitamin C as eight oranges.

Seabuckthorn sounds more like the name of the guy riding shotgun (C. "Buck" Thorn) on the stagecoach to Horse Thief Gulch. But the super fruit new to North America is being ranked by some experts at the top in terms of health benefits.

The berry, which about two dozen Manitoba farmers have started growing, is filthy rich in Omega 3 (like fish, helps prevent heart disease and stroke), Omega 6, Omega 9 and Omega 7. The latter really intrigues backers. Omega 7 is clinically proven to help heal mucus linings for women with uterine and ovary issues. Seabuckthorn is also high in Vitamins A and E (great for skin).

Genghis Khan used to feed seabuckthorn to his soldiers--and their horses--for strength and energy heading into battle. At the Beijing Olympics, seabuckthorn was the drink of the Chinese athletes.

In Canada, where the imported crop is extremely hardy, seabuckthorn was initially planted in the 1960s as shelterbelts to stop soil from blowing. The Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration supplied the seed.

In the 1990s, a Canadian engineer, Colin McLoughlin, traveled to Asia and found seabuckthorn in everything from food products to skin creams and cosmetics. He toured Western Canada telling farmers he would build a processing plant if they grew seabuckthorn.

Chris Federowich and his late father, Joe, near Ashville and west of Dauphin, were among the first farmers to take the plunge a decade ago. It takes about five years before trees can be harvested for their fruit.

But Chris is discouraged by the results. The fruit trees are hardy, but farmers can't make a "buck" from seabuckthorn, he said. McLoughlin died before he could build his processing plant.

Farmers like Chris can only give the crop away to companies like Farm Genesis in Waskada for product development. If a company develops a product it can sell, it will come back to buy some.

"The problem is most people don't know it exists," said Betty Forbes, president of Northern Vigor Berries in Saskatoon, which sells seabuckthorn products from fruit leather, to skin oil and gelato. Her products are developed by the Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie, but aren't available in Manitoba.

Product development is much more advanced in Quebec, Forbes said. Growers like Federowich "need to hang on" because it takes time to establish new food products and markets.

The berry is about the size of a wild blueberry and tastes like a very, very tart orange. There are different varieties of seabuckthorn, but it's not normally a berry you eat off the branch. The colours range from red to orange to yellow, depending on the variety and the time of year.

It's hard to harvest. You have to pull the berries very hard because the stems are strong and then the berries squish in your fingers. Farmers cut off about 70 per cent of the branches, immediately freeze them, then put the branches on a vibrating machine (Federowich uses a "chicken plucker") that shakes off the frozen berries.

Winnipeg health food stores are carrying seabuckthorn products, although not from locally grown crops. Vita Health has a face cream, skin oil, and drink blended with apple and grape juice using seabuckthorn, in addition to gel caps for its antioxidants and other health benefits.

 

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca

 

 

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Sort by: Newest to Oldest | Oldest to Newest | Most Popular 8 Commentscomment icon

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@ sputnik:
fruit is not a fad, and variety is the spice of life. If Locals can get in on a BooM, more power to them.Rich crops make a strong economy. Something with proven medical benefits , is usually not considered "snake oil" btw.

First it was blueberries, then goji berries, then acai berries... now these.

Do we really need another baseless fad claiming they their overpriced fruit juice will cure everything?

How about people just returning to eating reasonable amounts of real food and getting decent exercise instead of constantly buying the latest snake oil on the market?

I started a few last year...primarily as a wind break, but knew about the benefits.

And it is Sea Buckthorn, not one word. It is available through a number of local suppliers and I believe plants were still available through the PFRA for shelter belts. It is also very tolerant of alkaline soil, which the prairies have in abundance.

That said, there are also those who aren't pleased with it being used in general - there are native plants that provide many of the same benefits of appearance and windbreak, but may not provide the same fruit characteristics.

I have space, so would consider planting more if a market develops.

now we just need to get access to local berries.

Hang in there Chris.

Please DON'T GIVE UP or get TOO DISCOURAGED.

I will try to help you present and market your product in the future.

I will mention this product to some interest groups during this municipal election.

I'm also quite sure that you will receive calls from MANY outlets because of the media coverage of this story.

Don't quit and don't give up yet.

Hang in there.

I will try to help you in the future.

Great article, thank you for posting!

I have a half dozen of these plants I started a few years ago.. Great tasting fruit...but it takes a good while before your get any berries.

You also have to plant both Male and female plants (1-4 ratio) and the berries are definately a PITA to get off the bush.

I find the berries taste like a cross between an orange and a peach myself.

C. "Buck" Thorn... hee hee hee.

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