Eating Elderberries: Ingredients, Effects and Consumption

Elderberries should never be eaten raw. Heated and properly prepared, delicious juices or jams can be made from vitamin-rich berries.

Eating elderberries: The dark berries should be consumed raw with caution

Elderberries grow on the wild black elder bush. The small, dark berries are low in acid and rich in vitamins. Especially vitamin C and B vitamins are found in the berry. Elderberries also contain a lot of potassium and magnesium.

• But beware: the fruit must not be eaten raw. Unripe fruits in particular contain the toxin sambunigrin. Poisoning can cause vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, and chills.
• While ripe elderberries contain only small amounts of sambunigrin, they can still cause nausea when eaten.
• In order for the fruit to be edible, it is important to briefly heat it to at least 80 degrees Celsius. At these temperatures, toxic and other indigestible substances are rendered harmless.
• By the way: You can recognize ripe elderberries by the red juice when the berries are pressed lightly. In addition, the berries are uniformly dark red to black in color and have no green spots.

Prepare elderberries: 3 delicious ideas

In order to enjoy elderberries, the freshly picked and ripe fruit must be processed immediately. Regardless of whether you are preparing elderberry juice, compote, or jelly – the berries must always be heated to over 80 degrees.

• Elderberry juice: The juice is rich in vitamin C and therefore a real immune booster. After heating, the berries are squeezed using a cloth press or a juice extractor. The juice can be sweetened with honey. If pure elderberry juice tastes too smoky or intense for you, mix it with apple or grapefruit juice.
• Elderberry jelly: To make jelly or jam, mix the juice or the previously pureed and boiled berries with an equal amount of strong jam sugar (2:1) and boil the ingredients for five to ten minutes. If required, the jelly can be refined with apple pieces and lemon juice and placed in a mason jar to cool.
• Elderberry compote: For a delicious and healthy compote, boil 250 grams of ripe elderberries with five centiliters of water, a little lemon juice, and 80 grams of sugar or honey in a saucepan. Then let everything cool down and serve plain or with vanilla ice cream and cream.