Research progress in nutritional,bioactive content and pharmacological activity of oleaster fruit

Oleaster is a shrub-like species of Elaeagnus,widespread in northern hemisphere,stretching from Fareast regions of Russia in the east to the Mediterranean areas in the west. Being a cold-resistant,drought-and saline-tolerant,sturdy,fire resistant,nitrogen fixing and rapid growing plant,oleaster can be regarded as an important and potential resource for afforestation of dry and semi-dry areas in north-western China. In addition to that,oleaster fruits,barks and flowers have various phytochemical constituents such as polysaccharide,phenolic acid and flavonoids which can be served as food,and also traditionally used as folk medicine in some central Asian and west Asian countries. In north-west China,different part of oleaster are main ingredients of many Uyghur folk medicine for the treatment of common diseases like diarrhea,gastric ulcer,hyperchlorhydria and neurasthenia. These features of oleaster promise potential future for the source of raw materials for food and pharmaceutical industries. To provide with a systematic,deep and detailed information about those features of oleaster,we performed a relatively comprehensive analysis on the nutritional contents,phytochemical constituents and pharmacological properties of oleaster fruits in this report.