The Effect of the Harvest Date on the Possibility of Harvesting by Shaking, Chemical Composition, Color, and Antioxidant Properties of Common Sea Buckthorn Fruit (Hippophae rhamnoides L.)

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) fruits were evaluated at three harvest dates, both in terms of ease of harvesting and nutritional value, with attention paid to the visual effect in the form of the color of the harvested fruits. The high values of the ratio of fruit bonding strength to individual fruit mass indicated the challenges of effectively harvesting common sea buckthorn using mechanical shakers. However, a decrease in this measure was observed with later harvest dates, as well as differentiation in fruit bonding strength among the tested sea buckthorn cultivars in the seventh and eighth years of plantation growth. As the harvest date was delayed, antioxidant properties and total polyphenol content decreased, while sugar content, individual fruit mass, and fruit length increased. Across the analyzed harvest dates, color differences were more pronounced between cultivars than between individual harvest dates. The numerous interactions observed between sea buckthorn cultivars and harvest dates highlight the need for further research, particularly by increasing the number and frequency of harvest dates for this species.