Elderberry

Sambucus nigra

Family: Adoxaceae Part used: Berries and flowers

Key Compounds

• Cyanidin-3-glucoside
• Cyanidin-3-sambubioside
• Rutin
• Quercetin
• Chlorogenic acid
• Sambunigrin (cyanogenic glycoside — destroyed by heat)
• Ursolic acid

Traditional Use

• Ancient Greek medicine — Hippocrates described elder as his 'medicine chest', c.400 BCE
• Roman household medicine — documented extensively by Pliny the Elder
• Medieval European folk medicine — berries, flowers, bark, and leaves all used
• Traditional British elderflower and elderberry products — cordials, wines, and preserves
• Modern standardised elderberry supplements from the 1980s onward (Sambucol)

Hippocrates called the elder tree his “medicine chest.” He meant that he considered it a complete pharmacy in a single plant. Hippocrates lived around 400 BCE. Two and a half thousand years of continuous documentation later, elderberry is one of the top-selling supplements every winter. The assessment has held.

There is one thing you need to know before any of the history: raw elderberries will make you sick. The plant contains cyanogenic glycosides. Raw berries cause nausea and vomiting. Heat destroys them. Every elderberry syrup, every commercial supplement, every traditional recipe from every era cooks the berries first. This is not a modern safety note — it is embedded in every preparation from ancient Rome to the October supplement aisle. Cook them. Always.

Once cooked, they are among the most anthocyanin-rich berries that exist.

Meet the plant

A deciduous shrub or small tree, 2–10 metres tall, with pinnately compound leaves that smell distinctly unpleasant when crushed. In early summer, large flat-topped clusters of tiny creamy-white flowers appear — intensely sweet-scented, one of the most distinctive smells in European summer countryside. By autumn those flower clusters have become heavy, drooping clusters of deep purple-black berries. The contrast between the white flowers and the dark berries, on the same tree four months apart, is one of the more dramatic seasonal changes in a hedgerow plant.

2,400 years of the medicine chest — and one Danish tree spirit

Hippocrates apart, elder appears in every era of European medicine without a gap. Pliny the Elder documented it. Medieval herbalists used every part: berries, flowers, bark, hollow stems for children’s pipes and whistles. Apparently all of it was useful. They were not picky.

In northern European folklore, the tree was believed to be inhabited by the “Elder Mother” — in Danish, Hylde-Moer. Cutting an elder without asking her permission was considered serious bad luck. This was documented as active rural belief in parts of England as recently as the 1890s. A tree spirit with her own name and protocols, operating under the same laws of physics as the Victorians. The records are clear about this.

The first modern supplement came from an Israeli virologist. Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu developed the standardised elderberry extract called Sambucol in the 1980s. A small randomised trial during a 1993 influenza B outbreak in Israel tested it against placebo. (The virus strain studied was designated Influenza B/Panama — a strain naming convention, not a geographic location.) That study, and subsequent research, built the scientific foundation for the autumn elderberry supplement category that now generates hundreds of millions in global sales every year. Hippocrates would have found this less surprising than modern people do.

The flavour story is separate. Elderflower cordial — a British summer tradition, commercially revived in the 1980s by Belvoir Fruit Farms — and St-Germain elderflower liqueur (launched 2007) took the flower’s flavour into global cocktail culture. The flower, meanwhile, had been sitting in British hedgerows the whole time, waiting to be noticed.

The chemistry

Elder’s berries are higher in anthocyanins than blueberries by weight. Blueberries have better marketing. The deep purple-black of the ripe berries is entirely cyanidin derivatives — mainly cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-sambubioside. The same class of compounds colours red cabbage, black grapes, and blueberries. One chemistry, four plants.

The flowers are genuinely different phytochemically from the berries — not just the same plant at a different stage. Elderflowers contain flavonoids (rutin, quercetin), a trace essential oil including hotrienol (which gives the distinctive muscat-grape note), and mucilage. Two completely different chemical profiles from one plant, separated by four months and a summer. This surprises almost everyone who hears it and then immediately makes sense once you have smelled both.

What people actually do with it

With the berries — always cooked, as noted — the main preparations are syrup and wine. Elderberry syrup is berries simmered with honey, which is both the oldest documented traditional preparation and the modern commercial format. Sambucol is essentially the pharmaceutical-grade version of that recipe. Elderberry wine neutralises the glycosides through fermentation, which is the same mechanism as cooking. The supplement market eventually converted the syrup idea into capsules and gummies, which is the format most people reach for in October.

The flowers let you do something entirely different. Elderflower cordial — flowers steeped in sugar syrup with lemon juice — sounds like a small thing until you taste it. The flavour is sweet, floral, and distinctly muscat-grape, which is completely unlike anything else. Here is the practical note: if you are making cordial yourself, pick the flowers on a dry sunny morning after the dew has dried. Aromatic compounds are at their peak; moisture dilutes the syrup. This matters more than it sounds.

Elderflower fritters are worth knowing about. Fresh flower clusters dipped in batter and fried. Around 1300, someone fried a flower head and found it excellent. The idea has been transmitted continuously since. That is 700 years of fried flowers.

Dried elderflowers as tea are mild and pleasant and require nothing. Just flowers and hot water.

Could you grow this yourself?

Elder is one of the easiest shrubs to establish. Poor soil, inconsistent watering, most of Japan’s winter temperatures — it handles all of these. It feeds birds, provides both flowers and fruit, and asks very little. The main thing to manage is size: a mature elder reaches 6–10 metres, and it spreads where branches touch the ground. Give it space early. It is going to use it.

Flowers appear May–June (earlier in Kyushu, later in Tohoku and Hokkaido). Berries ripen late summer through early autumn.

Do not confuse with native Japanese ニワトコ (S. racemosa var. miquelii). Red berries. Different species. The mistake is visible.

Elderberry and elderflower in Japan

Japan has two completely separate elderberry markets that most consumers never connect.

The supplement — エルダーベリー — arrived through Western health imports in the early 2000s and positions itself alongside vitamin C, zinc, and echinacea as a winter wellness product. Natural food stores and online retailers carry it. The market peaks sharply in October–November. It is a medicinal import with no particular cultural story in Japan.

The flavour — エルダーフラワー — arrived approximately 2015–2020, driven by the British cocktail culture and premium tonic water trends. Belvoir elderflower cordial appeared in Kaldi Coffee Farm and department store import sections. St-Germain elderflower liqueur found Japanese cocktail bars. Tonic water brands added elderflower variants. The flavour positioned well against the growing Japanese interest in premium botanical drinks and gin cocktails. This elderberry is elegant, for summer, served cold.

Same plant. Different shelves. Different world.

Things you’re probably wondering

Can you eat raw elderberries? No. Raw elderberries contain cyanogenic glycosides (sambunigrin) that can cause nausea and vomiting. They must be cooked before eating. Cooking destroys the glycosides. All commercially produced elderberry syrup, juice, and supplement products use cooked berries. The flowers (elderflower) can be used fresh or dried without cooking.

What is the difference between elderberries and elderflowers? Elderberries are the ripe fruit of Sambucus nigra (September–October), used cooked in syrups, jams, wines, and supplement extracts. Elderflowers are the creamy-white flowers that appear in May–June, with a distinctive sweet floral scent. They are used fresh or dried for cordials, teas, and flavouring. Both come from the same plant but have different seasons, uses, and chemistry.

What is elderflower cordial? Elderflower cordial is a British soft drink made by steeping fresh elderflowers in sugar syrup with lemon juice and citric acid. It has an intensely sweet, floral, slightly muscat-like flavour. It is a traditional British summer preparation with a history of at least several centuries, commercially revived in the 1980s. In Japan, elderflower cordial is sold in import food stores and has become associated with premium botanical beverages.

Where can I find elderberry products in Japan? Elderberry supplements (エルダーベリー) are available in natural food stores, supplement shops, and on Amazon Japan and iHerb Japan. Elderflower products (エルダーフラワー) — cordials, tonics, and gin mixers — are available in import food stores such as Kaldi Coffee Farm and the import food sections of department stores. St-Germain elderflower liqueur is sold in liquor stores.

Is the Japanese elder (ニワトコ) the same as elderberry? No. Japan’s native elder is Sambucus racemosa var. miquelii (ニワトコ), which has red berries and is a different species from European black elder (S. nigra). The European elderberry’s deep purple-black berries and the entire commercial elderberry supplement and elderflower food market are based on S. nigra, which is not native to Japan.

Botanical details

The full compound list

See Also

• Echinacea — frequently sold alongside elderberry in autumn supplement ranges
• Rosehip — another vitamin C-rich berry used in European traditional medicine
• Hawthorn — another European hedgerow berry with long medicinal history

References

• Zakay-Rones, Z. et al. (1995). Inhibition of several strains of influenza virus in vitro and reduction of symptoms by an elderberry extract during an outbreak of influenza B Panama. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 1(4), 361–369.
• Hawkins, J. et al. (2019). Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) supplementation effectively treats upper respiratory symptoms. Complementary Medicine Research, 26(3), 1–13.
• European Medicines Agency (2013). Assessment report on Sambucus nigra L., fructus. EMA/HMPC/44208/2012.
• Elderberries (2004). In Beckstrom-Sternberg, S.M. & Duke, J.A. Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases.
• Barak, V. et al. (2001). The effect of Sambucol, a black elderberry-based, natural product, on the production of human cytokines. European Cytokine Network, 12(2), 290–296.