A seaberry is a small, bright orange berry produced by a thorny shrub known scientifically as Hippophae rhamnoides. You may also hear it called sea buckthorn, its more traditional name. The fruit packs roughly 12 times more vitamin C than an orange, and its oils contain an unusually high concentration of omega-7 fatty acids, a rare nutrient in the plant world. Native to the coastal and mountainous regions of Europe and Asia, seaberries have been used for centuries in traditional medicine and are now gaining popularity in juices, supplements, and skincare products worldwide.
The Plant and Its Fruit
The seaberry shrub is a hardy, deciduous plant that thrives in poor soils, cold climates, and coastal environments. It grows dense, thorny branches with needle-like spines up to three-quarters of an inch long. The berries themselves are tiny, roughly the size of a pea, and cluster tightly along the branches. Their vivid orange color comes from an exceptionally high carotenoid content, with total carotenoid levels reaching 53 to 97 mg per 100 grams of dried fruit. That includes beta-carotene, lycopene (13 to 20 mg per 100 g), and several compounds important for eye health like lutein and zeaxanthin.
The flavor is distinctive and polarizing: intensely tart and sour with a tropical, almost passionfruit-like undertone. Most people find raw seaberries too sour to eat straight off the branch, which is why the fruit is almost always processed into juice, puree, jam, oil, or powdered supplements.
Nutritional Profile
Seaberries stand out for their vitamin C concentration, though the exact amount varies dramatically depending on where the plant grows. European varieties contain around 360 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams of fruit. Chinese varieties can reach 2,500 mg per 100 grams. In the United States, the range falls between 114 and 1,550 mg per 100 grams, averaging about 695 mg. For comparison, a typical orange contains roughly 53 mg per 100 grams.
Beyond vitamin C, seaberries deliver vitamin E (about 3.5 mg per 100 g), a broad spectrum of carotenoids that function as antioxidants, and a fatty acid profile unlike almost any other fruit. The berries also contain flavonoids and phenolic compounds that contribute to their overall antioxidant activity.
Why the Oils Are Unusual
Seaberries produce two distinct types of oil, each with a different nutritional makeup. The pulp oil, extracted from the flesh and skin of the berry, is rich in monounsaturated fats (about 59% of its total fat content) and is one of the highest plant sources of palmitoleic acid, an omega-7 fatty acid. Depending on the variety, palmitoleic acid makes up 27 to 43% of the pulp oil. No other widely available plant comes close to that concentration.
The seed oil has a completely different composition. It’s dominated by polyunsaturated fats (about 63%), particularly linoleic acid (an omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3). Seed oil also contains higher levels of tocopherols, the compounds that make up vitamin E, at roughly 2,806 mg per kilogram compared to about 1,835 mg per kilogram in pulp oil.
This distinction matters if you’re shopping for seaberry oil supplements or skincare. Pulp oil tends to be deep orange and is associated more with skin nourishment and metabolic benefits. Seed oil is lighter in color and provides a stronger omega-3 and omega-6 balance. In animal studies, pulp oil showed greater effectiveness at reducing visceral fat accumulation, triglyceride levels, and liver damage markers compared to seed oil.
Skin and Wound Healing
Seaberry oil has a long history in skin care, and laboratory research offers some explanation for why. In burn wound studies on animals, seaberry extract increased the activity of fibroblasts, the cells responsible for producing collagen and closing wounds. Treated wounds showed higher levels of type III collagen, which is the form most associated with early tissue repair, and faster wound contraction overall.
The extract also promoted the growth of new blood vessels in damaged tissue by boosting production of a key growth signal that stimulates blood vessel cells to multiply and migrate. Better blood supply to a wound means faster delivery of oxygen and nutrients, which accelerates healing. These findings help explain why seaberry oil appears in products marketed for scar healing, eczema, and general skin repair, though most of the clinical evidence in humans remains limited to small studies.
Dry Eye Relief
One of the better-studied human applications for seaberry oil is dry eye syndrome. In a double-blind clinical trial, participants took 2 grams of seaberry oil daily for three months during the fall-to-winter period, when dry eye symptoms typically worsen. The cold season caused tear film quality to deteriorate in both the treatment and placebo groups, but the decline was significantly smaller in people taking seaberry oil. Participants also reported less eye redness and burning compared to the placebo group. The effect was modest but statistically meaningful, suggesting that the omega-7 and other fatty acids in the oil help maintain the tear film’s protective layer during harsh weather.
Why Seaberries Are Expensive
If you’ve noticed that seaberry products carry premium price tags, the harvesting process is the main reason. The berries grow in dense clusters surrounded by sharp thorns, making them difficult and slow to pick by hand. A hand picker averages about 110 pounds of berries per day even in high-yielding orchards. Mechanical harvesters can collect around 800 pounds per day per worker, but the technology is still not universal. Named cultivated varieties have been bred to produce fewer thorns and higher fruit yields, which helps, but picking remains the single largest production cost.
Once harvested, the berries are typically separated into five components for commercial use: juice, pulp oil, seed oil, a powdered nutrient supplement, and leftover material used as animal feed. This multi-product processing approach helps producers maximize the value of each harvest.
Safety Considerations
Seaberries and their oils are generally well tolerated as food, but the fruit has a few properties worth knowing about if you take certain medications. Seaberry can decrease platelet aggregation, meaning it may slow blood clotting. If you take anticoagulant medications like warfarin or daily aspirin, adding seaberry supplements could increase bleeding risk. The fruit may also enhance the effects of blood pressure medications, potentially causing blood pressure to drop too low. And because it can influence blood sugar levels, people on diabetes medications should be cautious about high-dose seaberry supplements. These interactions are primarily a concern with concentrated oils and extracts rather than occasional use of seaberry juice or jam.