Up to 60 mcg genuine vitamin B12 per 100 g sea buckthorn & the ELISA test

[Korn]

From http://www.pandalis.de/english/pflan...buckthorn.html

Vitamin B12 in sea buckthorn

Only foods derived from animals such as milk, liver or meat contain vitamin B 12 - this is the general level of knowledge up to now. This, however, also only applies if the animals are kept in a way which is appropriate to their species: because vitamin B 12 can only be formed if the intestinal flora of the animals is natural and healthy. In conventional agriculture , however, this is so badly destroyed by the antibiotics which are fed to the animals that supermarket meat may not contain any vitamin B12 whatsoever.
Dr. Pandalis Research (EU Patent: No. 079 92 37) was the first to discover that sea buckthorn skins of certain biotopes contain a lot of vitamin B12: and, by means of the symbiosis of sea buckthorn with special bacteria, a vitamin B12 concentration occurs in the seed skin of sea buckthorn, which was previously only known in liver. Not every sea buckthorn bush, therefore, is a supplier of vitamin B12!
Very recent analyses of the freshly harvested raw material have again confirmed the high content of up to 60 mcg vitamin B12 per 100 g sample. And another piece of information for those hungry for knowledge: our classification procedure for vitamin B12 is based on an antigen-antibody reaction (ELISA test). Therefore a guarantee is provided that only "genuine" vitamin B12 is recorded and not substances analogous to vitamin B12.

[grant]

http://www.pandalis.de/english/pflan...buckthorn.html

Dr. Pandalis Research (EU Patent: No. 079 92 37) was the first to discover that sea buckthorn skins of certain biotopes contain a lot of vitamin B12: and, by means of the symbiosis of sea buckthorn with special bacteria, a vitamin B12 concentration occurs in the seed skin of sea buckthorn, which was previously only known in liver. Not every sea buckthorn bush, therefore, is a supplier of vitamin B12!
Very recent analyses of the freshly harvested raw material have again confirmed the high content of up to 60 µg vitamin B12 per 100 g sample.

It would be interesting to see how they did using the MMA urinary test. But as only -one- plant on the entire planet has actually had this test done so far, and that was about six yrs ago, don't hold your breath!

[grant]

I wondered why the post had been moved, it appears you beat me to it, Korn; by only thirteen months! But do you have any info on it being tested to see if it brings MMA levels down?

[RedWellies]

What's MMA? And which plant was tested 6 years ago?

[grant]

MMA stands for Methyl Malonic Acid. A substance created from Methyl Malonyl-CoA in the
presence of a vitamin b12 deficiency. As the latter is the only co-enzyme used in
converting Methyl Malonyl-CoA into Succinyl-CoA it is considered the most accurate (this week at least!) way of gauging a b12 deficiency. There are other factors that can cause MMA levels to be high though, such a hyperthyroidism; which can be caused by an iodine deficiency. As i understand it, dairy consumers received their iodine from seepage into the milk from the machinary in dairies. Apparently it is used to clean them.(how "natural" is that?) The symptoms of an iodine deficiency are quite similar in some respects, i.e. tingling sensations and tiredness.

The plant which was tested six yrs or so ago, using this "gold-standard" testing method, was nori. (both raw and dried) The dried nori caused MMA excretions to increase, while the raw nori made no significant difference.
As pointed out on veganhealth, valine was used during the experiment. This (valine) is an amino acid which is said to convert into MMA in the presence of a b12 deficiency, yet apparently (or so say's JN) it "didn't appear" to do this when used without the nori. If so i'd like to know why?

If it does indeed convert into MMA when b12 is low/deficient, then i would like to know how they calculate the increase caused by valine against the possible positive effect (i.e. decrease) upon MMA caused by the raw nori. It is surely possible that a particularly large increase could outweight a smaller decrease, thus the levels still rise, despite the RN having a positive effect.

Another issue i am interested in is the duration of time required for MMA levels to come down. Although in closing, i would not rely on raw nori. That is why i am particularly interested in Sea Buckthorn Berries. 60ug per 100 grams, is quite a sizable amount, assuming it is truly "active" b12 or even predominantly so. That said, i am dubious about the website, the more i read it.

[RedWellies]

Thank you, Grant, for the explanation. I had to read it several times until it sunk in but I understand now. (No reflection on you..I'm not very science-minded!!)

[grant]

You're welcome!

[Conrad]

Sea Buckthorn is an amazing plant, a nitrogen fixer, so it is great for sustainable farming. The berries are also high in essential fatty acids, amino acids and vitamins esp. vitamin C and beta carotene.

[medus]

In Lithuania on sea buckthorn juices package is written it contains B12. But they don't say how much.

Every autumn i collect these berries and eat them raw. They're very tasty and lots of them are growing in Lithuania. When I've been in north Germany, I saw many sea buckthorn bushes there too.

[Korn]

But do you have any info on it being tested to see if it brings MMA levels down?

I haven't seen any tests about sea buckthorn and MMA levels.

But I agree that 60ug per 100 grams definitely is a sizable amount: One would need to consume only 4 gram of sea buckthorn to get an intake of 2.4 mcg B12.

The most interesting info from Dr. Pandalis site is IMO this part:

And another piece of information for those hungry for knowledge: our classification procedure for vitamin B12 is based on an antigen-antibody reaction (ELISA test). Therefore a guarantee is provided that only "genuine" vitamin B12 is recorded and not substances analogous to vitamin B12.

IF the problem is that some B12 doesn't reduce MMA levels because it contains inactive B12 analogues, and not 'genuine', bioavailable B12, sea buckthorn should - at least in theory - reduce MMA levels.


(More about B12 RDAs here.)