WILD ROSEHIPS (Rosa moschatasyn brunonii): SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD OPTION AMONG WOMEN IN NORTH WESTERN HIMALAYA OF KULLU VALLEY, HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

1. Scientist, G B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Himachal Regional Centre, Mohal-Kullu, 175126, Himachal Pradesh, India. 2. Research Scholar, G B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Himachal Regional Centre, MohalKullu, 175126, Himachal Pradesh, India. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History Received: 30 September 2021 Final Accepted: 31 October 2021 Published: November 2021


ISSN: 2320-5407
Int. J. Adv. Res. 9 (11), 1071-1076 1072 recommended for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutritional purposes (Dabrowska et al., 2019). But the other species seed oil and their usage pattern is still underutilized.In India, especially in IHR no such work has been carried out in terms of harnessing its economic benefit. Therefore, to harness the same and promote it as a sustainable livelihood option among women in the Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh current activity was carried out.

Materials and Methods:-
From 2014 to 2019, all the literature work, research, field work, women mobilization through women saving and credit groups (WSCGs), awareness, capacity building on harvesting and post harvesting techniques, value addition in terms of procurement, processing, product development, testing, labelling and marketing of the rosehip was done. 1. Resource Mapping and WSCGs:Resource mapping was done in the Gadsa region of Kullu valley where the maximum population of the species was found (Figure 1).The activity was carried out in the rural areas of Kullu valley involving 203 women members with 22 groups which were pre formed by the JAGRITI a communitybased organization. They were involved in various steps of value addition in rosehip enterprise. Around 800 women were also sensitized on the sustainable harvesting and post harvesting technique of rosehips. During the three years project implementation period womens based enterprise was developed for their socio-economic benefit and sustainable livelihood pattern. 2. Harvesting and post harvesting techniques: Rosehips were harvested between 15 th October to 15 th November every year when it is completely matured. After that rosehip are dried for 15 to 20 days first day in sun and shade dry afterwards. Once the rosehips are completely dried these are decoded in shredder machine and outer shell, seeds and hairy parts are separated. Outermost covering of the rosehips is used for making tangy herbal tea and seeds are used for oil extraction. 3. Product development: Two products as rosehip tea and rosehip seed oil has been developed from the species.
Tea was developed through the rosehip outer shell and oil was extracted from the seed through supercritical extraction method. 4. Product Testing: Extract preparation was performed according to Chandra et al., 2014with slight modifications.
Shade dried, cleaned and grounded Rosehip cover (20 gm) was boiled for 30 minutes in 100 ml of water. The solvent extract was then evaporated under reduced pressure at 40ºC using a rotary evaporator to obtain semisolid materials. The semi-solid material is then processed using lyophilizer. The semi-greasy extract is obtained after lyophilization which yields 37.92%. The extract was stored in 4ºC for further analysis.

Total Phenolic Content:
The total phenolics content were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu method (Baba & Malik, 2015). 200µl sample (10 mg/ml) was made up to 3 ml using distilled water and 500 µl of Folin-Ciocalteu's reagent was added. The mixture was allowed for sonication thoroughly for 3 min. 2 ml of 20 % (w/v) sodium carbonate was added and incubated for 1 hr in dark. The absorbance was recorded at 765 nm using UV-Spectrophotometer (Ultro spec 2100 Pro, Healthcare Biosciences AB, Uppsala, Sweden). The total phenolic content was calculated as Gallic acid equivalent (GAE) by the following equation: TPC = (C × V) ÷ M (Where TPC is the total phenolic content in GAE mg/g, C is the concentration of Gallic acid obtained from the standard calibration curve, V is the volume of the extract solution in ml and M is the weight of the extract in g) (Genwali et al., 2013).

Total Flavonoid content:
The total Flavonoid content was analyzed by the aluminum colorimetric method (Chang et al., 2002) with slight modifications. 50 µl (10mg/ml ethanol) made up to 1ml with 80 % methanol and 4 ml of distilled water with 300 µl of 5% NaNO 2 were mixed in the solution. The mixture is allowed to stand for 5 min and 300 µl of 10 % AlCl 3 is mixed in the solution. After 6 min 2 ml of sodium hydroxide solution were added and made up final volume 10 ml with distilled water. The solution is mixed thoroughly by sonication and absorbance was recorded after 15 min at 510 nm using UV-Spectrophotometer. The total flavonoid content was calculated using the equation.  For the fatty acid composition of the rosehip seed oil AOCS method was used.
Certification and marketing: FSSAI certification of the products were also done for the wider marketing and acceptability among consumers. Marketing of the developed products were also done through various regional, state and national level agencies.

Results and Discussion:-
Women Saving and Credit Groups:Awareness programmes on wild rosehips and its sustainable harvesting and post harvesting techniques was organized among the women saving and credit groups. They were educated on the economic and healthcare benefits of the rosehips. Training on sustainable harvesting practices such as time of collection, collection method, amount of collection and post harvesting techniques such as cleaning, sorting, drying, storage and packaging were imparted ( Figure 2).
Protocol for sustainable harvesting and post harvesting techniques: Protocol for sustainable harvesting and post harvesting techniques were developed. Sustainable harvesting protocol includes; proper time of harvesting when rosehips are completely matured, harvest only 60 to 70% from the plant, avoid cutting of branches while harvesting, use of scissors and gloves and transportation of produces in clean dry sacks. Post harvesting techniques includes proper grading (discard unwanted rosehips), drying (sun dry for first day followed by shade dry for next 15 to 20 days), storage (clean, dry and tight containers), processing (deshelling, cleaning and separating pods, seeds and hair), product development (maintaining hygienic condition), packaging and labelling techniques were imparted.

Product development:
On the basis of project implementation two types of herbal/natural product were developed from the wild rosehip (Rosa moschata) species. The product developed are rosehip tea and rosehip seed oil (Figure3).

Testing:
Products developed from the rosehip such as tea and oil has been tested for various physicochemical parameters. Total phenolics and flavonoids in the rosehip tea was found 660±1.52nmg GAE/g and 498±0.50 mg Rutin/g. While antioxidant activity of DPPH was found 2.72±0.01 AAE µg/ml and FRAP 32±3.14 µM ascorbic acid value. The fatty acid composition of seed oil was identified and measured as palmitic acid (4.71 %), stearic acid (2.56 %), oleic acid (10.28 %), linoleic acid (54.84 %), α-linolenic acid (21.46 %) and ϒ-linolenic acid (<0.01 %) using International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 5508:1990 & 5509:2000 method. The products have shown good results on various parameters hence can be taken as a good healthcare product in terms of tea and face oil.

Enterprise development:
FSSAI certification of the product developed from the rosehips has been done for its wider acceptance in the market. currently, products are fetching a good return in the national and international market. The products are marketed 1074 through various regional, state and national level agencies. With this entrepreneurial activity the women enterprise earned the net amount of INR 9,00,000/-(USD 12,111/-) during three years' time period.

Conclusion:-
The rosehip-based enterprise in the Kullu Valley is running successfully even after the completion of the project activity. To make it more sustainable and economically viable further the focus should be given on developing a basket of products. The activity in the region is continuously uplifting the socioeconomic condition of women and conserving the natural resources. From the activity it is very clear that various semi wild forest produces has a potential to develop a local livelihood provided sustainable harvesting and post harvesting techniques are inculcated and resultant economic value is recognized.

Acknowledgements:-
Author highly acknowledge Director, G. B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi -Katarmal, Almora, India for providing the necessary facility at Himachal Regional Center of the Institute. Authors also acknowledge all the members of Women Saving and Credit Groups of Kullu Valley which were preformed by the JAGRITI a community-based organization.

Authors Contributions
Authorswere the research team of the project and carried out all the research and developmental activities of the project. Authors also wrote the manuscript.

Funding's
The study was funded by Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India under the Project No: SEED/WS/005/2015.