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Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava  
Volume XI, Issue 4 – 2012 

 

 
 

36 

 
SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SEABUCKTHORN AND HOW THE 

PACKING CONDITIONS INFLUENCE THEM 
 

*Mihaela JARCĂU1 
 

1Faculty of Food Engineering, Stefan cel Mare University, Suceava, Romania,  
mjarcau@ yahoo.com  
*Corresponding author 

Received 15 October 2012, accepted 7 November 2012 
 

 
Abstract: I paid attention to the way how the packaging can influence the physical properties of 
seabuckthorn fruits (Hippoephae rhamnoides L.) during storage. The physical properties of the 
seabuckthorn are important in designing the equipments, in packing, as well as in higher work 
efficiency and identifying of the best package, in order to decrease product loss. I have analysed the 
physical dimensions such as length L (mm), width W (mm), thickness T (mm), geometric mean 
diameter Dg (mm), sphericity Φ ( %), porosity ε (%), volume V (mm3), mass m (g), bulk density ρb 
(g/cm3), true density ρtr (g/cm3) before and after storage in a refrigerator for 5 days at a temperature of 
+4oC. The fruits were packed in four different packages: Samples 1 Paper and plastic (paper bag in a 
plastic bag); sample 2 glass jar; sample 3 paper (paper bag); sample 4 plastic box. The dimensions of 
the sea buckthorn fruits measured by three perpendicular directions before storage had values 
between : for T minimum – 5.05mm, maximum 7.6 mm, for W – minimum 5.06 mm, maximum 9.87 
mm, for L – minimum 6.74 mm, maximum 9.91 mm. After the 5 days of storage at a temperature of 
+40C, the dimensions of the sea buckthorn fruits suffered different modifications that depended on the 
nature of the package used for each sample. A greater variation has been observed in T and W, 
compared to L.   
   
Keywords: seabuckthorn, Hippoephae rhamnoides L, berries, physical properties.     
 
 
 
1. Introduction 
 
The seabuckthorn (Hippoephae 
rhamnoides L.) is a shrub from Eleagnacee 
family that can find in nature but also in 
cultures. Seabuckthorn stands out through 
its exceptional capacity of adaptation in 
different soil and climate conditions, 
making it easier to grow, and to spread in 
the lands. 

Seabuckthorn has been used for 
many years, not only for its therapeutical 
properties, but also in profilactic purpose. 
Seabuckthorn has won the attention of 
many research teams because of its 
nutritional, medical and cosmetic 
properties. Seabuckthorn is a thorny shrub, 
with falling leaves, widespread in Europe 

and Asia, being found also in Romania, 
where it grows spontaneous in the 
subcarphatic regions of Moldova and 
Muntenia, starting with the upper basin of 
the Siret to Olt. 

Because of its nutritional and medical 
properties, it is homegrown in a large 
number of parts of the world 1,2. It is a 
cold and drought resistant plant, and it is 
considered to be a good source for a large 
number of bioactive substances, like: 
vitamins (A, C, E, K, riboflavin, folic 
acid), carotenoids, fitosterols (ergosterol, 
stigmasterol, lanosterol, amyrins), organic 
acids (malic and oxalic acid) 
polyunsaturated fatty acids, and some 
essential aminoacids 3, 4, 5.   



Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava  
Volume XI, Issue 4 – 2012 

 

 37 

This plant has been used in all nordic 
countries, baltic region and Asia as a 
human and veterinary medical drug 6,7. 

Seabuckthorn has been used in the 
traditional oriental system as a drug for 
treating skin deseases, astma, gastric ulcer 
and pulmonary deseases. 

Recent research of the seabuckthorn 
have reported that it can be used also as an 
antioxidant, imunomodulator,  anti-
aterogen, anti-stress, hepatoprotector, 
radioprotector and tissue regenerator 
8,9,10. 

The active substances from 
seabuckthorn oil are anticancerous and 
antitumor, inhibing the development of 
cancerous cells, increasing the immunity, 
reducing the secondary effects of 
chemotheraphy and treating stomach, 
pulmonary and rectal cancer. Also it stops 
internal hemmoragies, destroys intestinal 
parasites, slows the aging process and 
generally acts like a tonic in 
stress11,12,3,13. 

Given the properties of the berries 
in preventing illnesses but also in treating 
some conditions, I have determined some 
physical properties of the seabuckthorn 

fruits and the way they are influenced by 
the packaging and storage. 

I have acorded the same atention to 
the bilberry, analising the behavior  during 
the storage period, and in different 
packaging (plastic box with lid, jar 
package, double paper wrapper, plastic 
bag) 14. 

Although many studies have 
considered the benefical effects of the sea 
buckthorn on the human organism, there is 
a limited number of them that describe the 
bioactivity of it compared to the 
fitochimical composition. 

The objective of this study was to 
investigate in which way the package 
influences the physical proprieties of 
seabucktorn fruits L (mm), W (mm), T (mm), 
Dg(mm), Φ( %), ε,(%), V(mm3), m(g), ρb 
(kg/m3), ρtr (kg/m3). 

All these informations are 
important for designing the equipment, 
storage and packing to increase the work 
efficiency and decrease product loss. 
 
 
 

Nomenclature  
 
Dg-geometric mean diameter, mm 
L-length, mm 
m-unit mass of the seed, g 
m100-100 seed mass, g 
S- seed surface, mm2 

T-thickness, mm 
V-single seed volume, mm3 
W-width, mm 
ρb-bulk density, g/cm3 
ρt –true density, g/cm3 
ε-porosity, % 
Φ-sfericity, % 

 
 
2. Materials and methods 
 
2.1 Sample preparation 
 

The analysed seabuckthorn fruits 
have been bought from a market in 
Fălticeni, Romania. 

The fruits have been washed, all the 
impurities removed, leaves, any other 
foreigh bodies and dried. 

I have randomly selected 10 
seabuckthorn fruits, using an electronic 
caliper with a precision of 0.01mm, I have 
measured the three major perpendicular 
dimensions of the fruits namely length L, 
width W and thickness T, after which I 
have packed them in: 
Samples:  

1.  Paper and plastic (paper bag 
in a plastic bag) 

2. Jar  
3. Paper (paper bag) 
4. Plastic box 



Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava  
Volume XI, Issue 4 – 2012 

 

 38 

The samples were stored for 5 days 
in a refrigerator at +40 C and remesured. 
 
 
 
 
2.2 Geometric mean diameter, 
sphericity, volume and surface area 
 

The geometric mean diameter Dg 
and sphericity of seabuckthorn was 
calculated using the following relationship 
15: 
 
Dg = (LWT)1/3    (1);  
 
Φ = [(LWT)1/3/L] x 100   (2);  
 
for volume and seed surface was calculated 
by using the following relationship 16: 
  
    (3) 

 
     (4) 

Where B is: 
 
    (5) 

 

 
2.3. One hundread fruits weight and the 
unit mass 
 
 To obtain the unit mass of the 
seabuckthorn, the mass of 100 fruits were 
measured with an electronic balance with 
an accuracy of 0.01g. 
 
2.4. Bulk and true density 
 
 The bulk density is the ratio of 
mass sample of the seed of seabuckthorn to 
its total volume. It was determined by 
filling a 1000 mL container with 
seabuckthorn from a height of about 15 

cm, triking the top level and then weighing 
the contents 17.  
 The true density was determined 
using water displacement method. The 
seabuckthorn were used to displace water 
in a measuring cylinder after their masses 
had been measured. The true density was 
found as an average of the ratio of their 
masses to the volume of water displaced by 
seabuckthorn 17. 
 
2.5. Porosity 
 
 The porosity is the fraction of space 
in the bulk fruits that is not occupied by the 
fruits18. 
The porosity ε of bulk seabuckthorn was 
calculated using the following relationship 
14: 
 
   (6) 

 
Where ρt is true density in g/cm3 

and ρb is bulk density in g/cm3 
 
3. Results and discussion  
 
3.1. Seed size 
 

The dimensions of the sea 
buckthorn fruits measured in three 
perpendicular directions, before storage 
had the values between two intervals: L – 
minimum 5.05 mm, maximum 7.6 mm, W 
- minimum 5.06, maximum 9.87 mm, T – 
minimum 6.74 mm, maximum 9.91 mm 

For the data analysis I have used 
ANOVA. 

In Table 1 are the medium values 
and the dimension variance of the sea 
buckthorn L(mm), W(mm), T(mm) before 
storage, for every test, in Table 2 are the 
medium values and dimension variance of 
the same dimensions after 5 days of 
storage at a temperature of +40C. 
  



Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava  
Volume XI, Issue 4 – 2012 

 

 39 

Tabel 1  
medium values and the dimension variance of 

the sea buckthorn L(mm), W(mm), T(mm) 
before storage 

 

              Tabel 2 
the medium values and dimension variance of 

the same dimensions after 5 days of storage at a 
temperature of +40C.

 
T (mm) L (mm) W(mm) 

SA
M

PL
E

 A
V

E
R

A
G

E
 

V
A

R
IA

N
C

E
 

A
V

E
R

A
G

E
 

V
A

R
IA

N
C

E
 

A
V

E
R

A
G

E
 

V
A

R
IA

N
C

E
 

1 6.09 0.41 5.97 0.21 7.96 0.66 
2 6.04 0.60 5.99 0.30 7.95 0.38 
3 6.10 0.13 5.87 0.23 7.59 0.08 
4 6.45 0.21 6.40 0.43 7.88 0.05 
 
 

From the graphical representations 
of the relative variations of L(%), W(%) 
and T(%), represented in Figure 1-3, we 
can compare the way how the storage 
influences the physical properties of the 
sea buckthorn fruits. 
 

 
 

Figure 1 T(%) relative variation for every 
sample 

 

 
 

Figure 2 W(%) relative variation for every 
sample 

 

 

 
 

Figure 3 L(%) relative variation for every 
sample 

 
3.2 Geometric mean diameter, 
sphericity, volume and surface area 
 

To determinate the geometric 
diameter of the sea buckthorn fruits we 
have used Eq (1). The relative variations 
for each sample, after five days of storage 
are presented in Figure 4.   

 

 
Figure  4 Dg(%) relative variation for every 

sample 

T (mm) L (mm) W(mm) 

SA
M

PL
E

 

A
V

E
R

A
G

E
 

V
A

R
IA

N
C

E
 

A
V

E
R

A
G

E
 

V
A

R
IA

N
C

E
 

A
V

E
R

A
G

E
 

V
A

R
IA

N
C

E
 

1 5.90 0.25 5.70 0.39 7.84 0.63 
2 5.99 0.62 6.02 0.59 8.10 0.68 
3 5.84 0.45 5.91 0.32 5.91 0.35 
4 5.92 0.46 6.00 0.34 6.00 0.21 



Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava  
Volume XI, Issue 4 – 2012 

 

 40 

As seen in Figure 4, the greatest variation 
of the geometric mean diameter is 8.8% 
and it is in sample 4 (plastic box) and the 
smallest relative variation of the geometric 
mean diameter has been registered for 
sample 2 (jar), only 0.4%. 

To calculate sphericity, volume and 
surface sea buckthorn berries we used Eq 
(2), (3) and (4). The values obtained for 
each sample before storage are shown in 
Table 3, and the values obtained for each 
sample after the 5 days of refrigeration, are 
presented in Table 4. 

Tabel 3 
Sphericity, volume and surface sea buckthorn 

berries obtained for each sample before storage 
Sample S (mm2) V(mm3) Φ (%) 

1 121.95 123.50 83.33 
2 123.59 125.99 82.34 
3 121.74 124.44 85.67 
4 142.85 157.42 86.35 

Tabel 4 
Sphericity, volume and surface sea buckthorn 

berries obtained after the 5 days of refrigeration 
Sample S (mm2) V(mm3) Φ (%) 

1 114.19 111.44 82.16 
2 121.11 122.24 82.30 
3 114.69 114.02 85.47 
4 118.40 120.19 87.37 

 
3.3. One hundread seabuckthorn weight 
The average of mass of 100 seabuckthorn 
before storage was:  

, 

and after storage: for sample 1was 19.1g, 
for sample 2 was 22.1g, for sample 3 was 
20.1g, and for sample 4 was 23.0g 
 

 
Figure 5   relative variation for every 

sample 

 
As shown in Figure 5, the largest 

relative variation of sea buckthorn fruits 
weight is 12% and this is shown in sample 
2, and the lowest relative variation of sea 
buckthorn fruits weight was recorded for 
sample 4, only 4.17%. 
 
3.4. Bulk and true density 
 

The relative variation of bulk 
density, for each sample, is presented in 
Figure 7 and the relative variation of true 
density for each sample, is presented in 
Figure 6. 
 

 
Figură 6 ρt(%) relative variation for every 

sample 
 

 
Figure 7 ρb(%) relative variation for every 

sample 
I have observed great variations for 

the bulk density and for the true density for 
sample 2 and small variations in sample 3. 

So, the highest variations are for 
sample 2: the relative variation of true 
density of the sea buckthorn fruits was 
6.90%, and the relative variation for bulk 
density was 9.38%. 
 
3.5. Porosity 
 

The value of porosity were 
calculated with Eq (6) by using the data on 



Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava  
Volume XI, Issue 4 – 2012 

 

 41 

bulk and true densities of seabuckthorn and 
the results obtained are presented in Figure 
8. 
 

 
 

Figure 8 ε (%) relative variation for every 
sample 

 
No significant variation of the porosity in 
none of the samples analyzed has been 
seen. 

 
4. Conclusion  
 

After the measurements made on 
physical properties of sea buckthorn fruits 
from Fălticeni area, Romania, before and 
after their storage for a period of 5 days at 
a temperature of 4 ° C in various packages, 
we drew the following conclusions:  
1. The dimensions of the sea buckthorn 
fruits measured by three perpendicular 
directions before storage had values 
between  : for T minimum – 5.05 mm, 
maximum 7.6 mm, for W – minimum 5.06 
mm, maximum 9.87 mm, for L – minimum 
6.74 mm, maximum 9.91 mm; 
2. After the 5 days of storage at a 
temperature of +40C, the dimensions of the 
sea buckthorn fruits suffer different 
modifications, that depend on the nature of 
the package used for each sample in 
particular: 
- The relative variation of thickness is 

maximum for sample 2 (14.08%) and 
minimum for sample 4 ( 9.9%); 

- The relative variation of width is 
maximum for sample 4 (17.65%) and 
minimum for sample 1 (8.3%); 

- The relative variation of lenght is 
maximum for sample 1 (10.08 %) and 
minimum for sample 2 (5.94%); 

- The relative variation of geometric 
mean diameter is maximum for sample 
4 (8.40%), and minimum for sample 2 
(0.4%); 

- The relative variation of mass is 
maximum for sample 2 (12%), and 
minimum for sample 4 (4.17%); 

- The relative variation of bulk density 
is maximum for sample 2 (9.38%), 
and minimum for sample 4 (0.32%); 

- The relative variation of true density is 
maximum for sample 2, of 6.90%, and 
minimum for sample 4 4.17%. 

3. A greater variation has been observed 
in T and W, compared to L. 

4. No considerable variations of density 
have been observed in the sample 3 and 
sample 4. 
5. The physical dimensions of the sea 
buckthorn fruits varied the least for the 
fruits in sample 4 (plastic box) and these 
physical dimensions varied the most for 
the fruits in sample 2 (jar). 

 
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