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Botanical name: Sambucus nigra, Sambucus canadensis
Other common names: Arizona Elderberry, Sweet Elder, Wild Elder
Earliest recorded uses: Documented in ancient Greece by Hippocrates around 400 BC
From the Caprifoliaceae, honeysuckle family. Elderberry is a powerhouse in preventing and treating colds and upper respiratory infections. Almost the entire tree is considered medicinal, flowering tops, bark, dried roots, fresh leaves, and most popular use is the purplish-blue berries that ripen in late summer or early fall. It is known as “the medicine chest” with many herbal writers over thousands of years saying there is hardly a disease from head to toe that it cannot cure, referred to as the holy tree. Uncooked or under-ripe berries can cause nausea, the steam of the plant should be avoided due to it containing small amounts of cyanide. People with diabetes or low blood iron should avoid elderberry.
Avoid elderberry may interact with diabetes medications, laxatives, and diuretics.
Elderberry's constituents include but are not limited to terpenes, rutin, quercitrin, tannins, alkaloids, mucin, anthocyanins, pectin and albumen, vitamins, and minerals.
Its potential health benefits include but are not limited to anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, antispasmodic, astringent, antiviral, diaphoretic, diuretic, emollient, laxative, expectorant, and tonic.
Most common ways to use are elderberry syrup, tea, tinctures, and oxymels.
Tendencies or energetics cooling and drying,
Elderberry SYRUP
The list of uses for Elderberries is limitless. Years ago elderberry pie was very common in households in the early fall. Nowadays elderberry syrup, gummies, and tea are in every herbalist's home. Elderberry is an herb that is safe to use daily without breaks. Diabetics want to avoid elderberry, it can interfere with diabetic medications.
The raw or underripe berries can cause nausea and diarrhea. The steams of the berries should be avoided due to them containing trace amounts of cyanide but boy are they tiny! You are completely fine with some stems and underripe berries getting in the pot. The cyanide in the stems of the elderberry plant is the same organic cyanide that is in rice, mushrooms, and poultry to name a few. You do not need to fear this if processed properly. The last reported incident of poisoning was over 30 years ago and it was a case of mistaken identity. A group of people in CA took raw elderberries ripe and unripe with stems and pressed thinking they were a different berry. Then added the elderberry juice to apple juice with no further processing causing severe stomachache and diarrhea, no deaths. It is very simple cooking your berries causes the cyanide to sublimate or convert from a solid to a gas within 20-30 minutes of a very light simmer uncovered, DO NOT BOIL you will destroy the beneficial properties. If you get up to a boil just remove from the burner and let cool enough to return to a light simmer. You can also dehydrate your elderberries to remove trace poisons.
Harvest your fresh elderberries in late summer and early fall, the later in the season take a couple of tarps and shake the tree, you will get showered in elderberries. Organic dehydrated elderberries work just as well. I find freezing my fresh picked berries and using a fork to pop off stems or shaking in a five gallon bucket will remove many but you're going to have to put in some effort.
Add elderberries, spices desired and water to your pot. Bring to a light simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and smash the elderberries however you can, sometimes I use my wooden food mill plunger other times I wait until its cooler and smash in cheesecloth….whatever works for you is the right way! Once cooled add your raw honey, never heat up your honey it will destroy benefits. Bottle and keep in fridge, the alphabet agencies say to use in 3 months but I’ve found jars in fridge at 8 months and were completely fine. Use your eyes and nose! If you’ve never had elderberry syrup know that it is not like factory made syrup, it's like real maple syrup it is much thinner. You can also add 1 cup of vodka per 5-6 cups syrup to help preserve, I've personally never done.
My favorite recipe so far, it's always changing.
3 cups fresh elderberries, 2 cups for dried
4 cups water
1-2 tbl dried ginger root, 2-3 tbl for fresh
2 ceylon cinnamon sticks crushed
1 tbl cloves
2 tbl star anise
1 lemon zested and sliced
1 cup honey
Play around with the recipes, nothing is written in stone.
I do not recommend canning your finished syrup or using an instant pot to make your elderberry syrup, way to much heat for herbal constituents to survive.
ELDERBERRY AND ECHINACEA GUMMIES
Elderberry and Echinacea Gummies
2 cups Elderberry syrup
½ thinly lemon sliced
1 cup dried Echinacea plant
4 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
5 tablespoons raw honey
Lightly grease 8-inch square baking dish.
In a medium saucepan combine elderberry syrup, lemon, and echinacea. Bring to very low simmer until liquid is reduced to about half. Strain and press herbs and lemon. Return liquid to saucepan add gelatin over low heat. Once gelatin is dissolved, about 3 minutes, remove from heat and add honey. Mix thoroughly and pour in to pan or molds, chill for 30 minutes, and cut or remove from molds. Refrigerate for up to 4 weeks.
Kid safe over 1 year old, 1-3 per day under 12 years old, 2-5 per day 13 years and older depending on illness or maintenance.
Echinacea should not be taken for extended periods; 8 weeks is suggested.
