Morphological and biochemical variation in Sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. turkestanica, a multipurpose plant for fragile mountains of Pakistan.

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. turkestanica) a member of family Elaeagnaceae, is a very important multipurpose plant in the northern areas of Pakistan. It is an ideal plant for preventing soil erosion and land reclamation, can withstand extremes of temperature ranging from -43°C to 55°C and grows well under drought conditions and variable soil pH. The fruit is rich in nutrients and medicinal compounds such as vitamins, carotene, flavonoids, essential oil, carbohydrates, organic acids, amino acids, and soluble sugars, The plants are also important as fuel wood, fencing, fodder, soil erosion control, to make soil fertile by nitrogen fixation in roots and for the purpose of shelterbelts. In order to compare various populations of Sea buckthorn for morphological and biochemical composition, ten populations from different areas of northern Pakistan were compared using plant and fruit characters, The purpose of the investigation was to identify the variable populations for different valuable characteristics to develop improved varieties for commercial cultivation and easy fruit harvesting. The comparison indicated a significant amount of variability on morphological and biochemical basis, The variability will be utilised to develop commercial varieties of the plant utilising the conventional techniques of selection and hybridisation for economic activities on degraded land of mountainous regions of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]