What is elderberry, and what is in the berries?

Elderberry is the dark purple fruit of the European or black elder tree, Sambucus nigra. Its colour comes from anthocyanins, red to purple plant pigments: a Danish study of 13 cultivars found 361 to 1,266 mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside, one of the two main anthocyanins, per 100 g of fresh fruit. The plant also contains cyanogenic glycosides, substances that can release cyanide. They are highest in the stems and green berries and lowest in ripe berries, and the US National Institutes of Health says cooking eliminates them.

In short:

• What it is: the berry of Sambucus nigra, a tree of Europe, North America, Western Asia and North Africa
• Colour: anthocyanins, mainly cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-sambubioside
• Cyanogenic glycosides: in raw or unripe berries, leaves and stems; highest in stems and green berries
• Cooking and processing: cooking eliminates them; commercial juice in one study had no quantifiable amount
• Nutrients: mostly water, with 7.0 g of dietary fibre per 100 g raw (see the table below)

This article explains what elderberry is, which compounds the berries contain and how much, and what happens to them when the berries are cooked or processed. For another berry in the same style, see What is cranberry, and what compounds does it contain?

What is elderberry?

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) describes elderberry as the dark purple berry of the European or black elder tree, which grows in Europe, North America, Western Asia and North Africa.

Scientific name and family

NCBI Taxonomy, the US National Library of Medicine's species database, lists the European elder as Sambucus nigra, in the order Dipsacales and the family Adoxaceae. Blueberry and cranberry belong to a different genus, Vaccinium, in a different order, Ericales.

European and American elderberry

Recent studies list the American elderberry as a subspecies of the same species, Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis. The studies in this article cover both: some were done on European fruit in Slovenia and Denmark, others on American fruit in Missouri and Ohio. The two differ in their pigments, as the next sections show.

What nutrients are in elderberries?

Elderberries are mostly water, with a fair amount of fibre. The figures below come from the US Department of Agriculture's FoodData Central entry for raw elderberries. The last column compares each value with the Thai RDI.

Source: USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy). The share of the Thai RDI is our comparison.

Vitamin C differs between cultivars

The USDA value is one figure from one set of samples. A 1998 Danish study at Aarslev measured the fresh fruit of 13 elderberry cultivars and found 6 to 25 mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) per 100 g, below the USDA figure. The amount differs between cultivars and samples.

What gives elderberries their dark colour?

Anthocyanins. These are water-soluble plant pigments, red in acid conditions and blue in alkaline conditions, found in the skin and flesh of many dark fruits.

The main anthocyanins in European elderberry

A 2014 study from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia detected 19 different anthocyanins in the berries of four elderberry species and eight hybrids. In Sambucus nigra, the most abundant were cyanidin-3-sambubioside and cyanidin-3-glucoside. Both are built on the same coloured core, cyanidin, with different sugars attached. A green-fruited variety, S. nigra var. viridis, had significantly lower levels of total anthocyanins.

How much is in the fruit?

Sources: Kaack and Austed (1998) and Senica and colleagues (2017). The two studies used different methods and units, so their figures are not directly comparable.

The 2017 Slovenian study compared elder plants growing at different altitudes. At one location, berries from the hilltop had more than twice the anthocyanins of berries from the foothill, and berries collected at higher elevations had more anthocyanins at both locations.

American elderberry has different pigments

A 2020 study from The Ohio State University examined five American elderberry cultivars. Most of their anthocyanins (63–72%) were acylated, meaning they carry an extra p-coumaric acid group, and the most common was cyanidin-3-(trans)-coumaroylsambubioside-5-glucoside. The share of acylated anthocyanins fell from about 80% to 70% as the fruit ripened, and extracts of half-ripe fruit had dull, yellowish tones. So "elderberry" can mean fruit with quite different pigment profiles, depending on the subspecies.

What are the cyanogenic glycosides in elderberry?

Cyanogenic glycosides are plant compounds made of a sugar joined to a molecule that can release hydrogen cyanide when the plant tissue is broken and enzymes act on it. NCCIH says raw or unripe elderberries and other parts of the tree, such as the leaves and stem, contain these cyanide-producing substances, which can cause nausea, vomiting and severe diarrhoea.

Sambunigrin and prunasin

The cyanogenic glycoside named after elder is sambunigrin. In PubChem, sambunigrin and prunasin have the same formula, C14H17NO6, and the same molecular weight, 295.29; they are mirror-image forms at one carbon atom, (2S) for sambunigrin and (2R) for prunasin. A 2024 University of Missouri study developed a method to separate the two. In the American elderberry leaves it analysed, only (R)-prunasin was found, and sambunigrin was not detected in any sample, even though earlier studies had reported it in elderberry species.

Which parts of the plant contain the most?

A 2021 University of Missouri study measured cyanogenic glycosides in six American elderberry genotypes harvested at peak ripeness in August 2016. The total cyanogenic potential, the amount of cyanide the tissue could release, rose in this order: whole ripe berries, whole red berries, juice, seeds, skin, pulp, whole green berries and stems.

The two measures use different units, so figures in different rows of the middle column are not directly comparable.

The authors describe the levels in all tissues as generally low. The Slovenian altitude study found the same pattern in European elder: of the leaves, flowers and berries it analysed, the berries had the lowest levels, at 0.11 µg per g at the foothill and 0.59 µg per g at the hilltop. The limits: both studies measured a small number of plants from a few sites, and the amounts change with the plant, its ripeness and where it grows.

What does cooking do to elderberries?

NCCIH says cooking eliminates the cyanide-producing toxin in raw or unripe elderberries. Processing studies point the same way.

What heating does

The Missouri team cites a 2016 study of European elderberry products by Senica and colleagues, which found that higher processing temperatures lowered cyanogenic glycosides by 44% in elderberry juice, 80% in elderberry tea and 96% in elderberry liqueur and spread. Processing also changes the pigments. The 1998 Danish study found that oxygen in the juice broke down the two main anthocyanins and quercetin during processing, that flushing the juice with nitrogen slowed this breakdown, and that adding vitamin C slowed it for the anthocyanins but not for quercetin. Cooking and pressing therefore change both the unwanted and the coloured compounds in the fruit.

A case from California

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an incident in Monterey County, California, in August 1983. At a gathering of 25 people, juice was made by crushing bunches of local wild elderberries together with their leaves and branches in a press; apple juice, water and sugar were added, and the mixture was stored overnight. Within 15 minutes of drinking it, 11 people had nausea and vomiting, and one person spent a night in hospital. The CDC's note says that uncooked berries may produce nausea and that leaves and stems should not be crushed in when making juice. Its editorial note describes the elder native to the western United States, Sambucus mexicana.

Is there a recommended daily amount of elderberry?

No. Elderberry is a fruit, and its anthocyanins and other plant compounds are not nutrients, so they have no value in the Thai Reference Daily Intakes (Thai RDIs). The Thai RDIs cover nutrients such as vitamin C, at 100 mg a day, and dietary fibre, at 25 g a day, which elderberries contain. For the full list, see What are the Thai daily reference amounts for each nutrient?

Amounts vary between fruits

The figures in this article come from different countries, subspecies and methods. Pigments changed with altitude in Slovenia and with ripeness in Ohio, and vitamin C differed between cultivars in Denmark. A single number for "elderberry" is therefore only a rough guide.

Who should talk to a doctor or pharmacist?

People who take regular medication

NCCIH says that people who take any type of medicine should talk with a health care provider before using elderberry or other herbal products, because some herbs and medicines interact in harmful ways. If you take medication regularly, ask a doctor or pharmacist first.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women

NCCIH says little is known about using elderberry for health purposes during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, ask a doctor or pharmacist before eating or drinking elderberry products.

Dietary supplements are not intended to prevent, treat or cure any disease.