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    Black Elderberry Monograph: Medicinal Research Review of Sambucus Nigra L
    Black Elderberry Monograph: Medicinal Research Review of Sambucus Nigra L
    Black Elderberry Monograph: Medicinal Research Review of Sambucus Nigra L
    Ebook142 pages1 hour

    Black Elderberry Monograph: Medicinal Research Review of Sambucus Nigra L

    By Ken Jones

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    About this ebook

    This monograph provides a detailed review of published literature on the subject of black elderberries in traditional ethnomedicine and modern healthcare. The content was compiled for use by professionals who require detailed information for product development and regulatory evaluation of black elderberries.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateNov 6, 2016
    ISBN9781483585536
    Black Elderberry Monograph: Medicinal Research Review of Sambucus Nigra L
    Author

    Ken Jones

    Ken Jones was a Zen practitioner, writer and teacher of some forty year years standing, and alsoa widely published haiku and haibun poet.

    Read more from Ken Jones

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      Book preview

      Black Elderberry Monograph - Ken Jones

      Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved.

      Berry Pharma Extracts®, Iprona AG, Lana, Bolzano, Italy.

      www.iprona.com

      Disclaimer: This publication is not intendedas a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

      ISBN: 978-1-4835855-3-6

      Contents

      Introduction

      Botanical Description

      History and Traditional Uses

      Greece

      Germany

      United Kingdom

      Austria

      Italy

      Spain

      Northwestern Africa

      Constituents

      Phenolic Compounds

      Other Constituents

      Preclinical Studies

      Antioxidant Activity

      Cholesterol and Lipid Metabolism

      Cardiovascular Functions

      Obesity

      Carbohydrate Metabolism

      Gastrointestinal Functions

      Anticancer Activity

      Antimicrobial Activity

      Immunomodulation

      Parasitic Diseases

      Neurological Functions

      Human Clinical Studies

      Antioxidant Activity

      Cardiovascular Health

      Influenza

      Common Colds in Air Travellers

      HTLV-1-Associated Myelopathy

      Bioavailability and Metabolism

      Safety

      Human Clinical Evidence

      Precautions

      Pregnancy and Lactation

      Estrogenic Activity

      Allergic Responses

      Toxicology

      Cytotoxicity

      Mutagenicity and Genotoxicity

      References

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      This monograph provides a detailed review of published literature on the subject of black elderberries in traditional ethnomedicine and modern healthcare. The content was compiled for use by professionals who require detailed information for product development and regulatory evaluation of black elderberries. Research and writing was conducted by Kenneth Jones, a creative science writer and consultant specializing in food and medicinal plants for over 25 years, and a member of the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council since 2005.

      Black Elderberry Monograph was commissioned by BerryPharma® Extracts, a business unit of Iprona AG, Lana, BZ – the leading international supplier of membrane-enriched extracts of black elderberries.

      Botanical Description

      Scientific name: Sambucus nigra L.

      Family: Adoxaceae; formerly Caprifoliaceae [1].

      Synonym: Sambucus nigra subsp. nigra [1].

      Common names: Black elder; European elder berry [2]; European black elderberry (English) [3]; hollunder [4]; schwarzer holunder (German); sureau; sureau noir (French) [5]; sabuco[4]; sambugo (Spanish); sabugueiro negro (Portuguese); sambuco nero (Italian); soc negru (Romanian); buzina chernaya (Russian); bez cherny (Czech); fläder (Norwegian); flaeder (Swedish); gewone vlier (Dutch) [6]; bilasan (Arabic); and akhilwan (Berber) [5].

      Native range: Europe, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, and southern Russia [6].

      Habitat: Forest margins and open or cultivated grounds [reviewed in ref. 7].

      European black elderberry (hereafter, black elderberry) is a deciduous, perennial shrub or tree growing up to 10 m in height with corky, deeply furrowed, brownish-grey bark. Usually with 5–7 leaflets, the leaves (20 cm in length) are opposite, pinnate, serrated, and of an unpleasant odor. The flowers are small (5 mm in diameter), fragrant, and creamy white. Displaying 5 primary petals, each flower has the appearance of a softly shaped star. Flat-topped clusters of the flowers (corymbs; 10–20 m in diameter) give way to juicy, green, globular berries (6–8 mm in diameter) containing 3–5 seeds. In August and September, the berries become fully ripe, black [7] or purple-black, and droop in large bunches attached to red-violet stalks [8].

      History and Traditional Uses

      Over untold centuries, European cultures developed diverse uses for black elderberries. In Denmark, for example, the berries are used in the form of juice or juice concentrates, as a colorant in mixed juices, and in wines, jams, jellies, desserts, candies, and pie fillings [9]. In Germany, products of the berries are numerous. Sold in delicatessens, health food stores, supermarkets, and department stores, they include the undiluted or ‘mother’ juice; juices with a 50% content of the fruit; jelly, jam, and berry-apple jam; and specialty products such as vinegar, multivitamin juice, a juice ‘nectar’ (not less than 75% black elderberries), and the berries with vodka at 25%/volume [10]. The flavor of the ripe berries is similar to that of boysenberries (Rubus ursinus x R. idaeus) and deepens after they are cooked.

      Greece

      As a medicinal food, black elderberry is documented in Europe in texts dating from ancient to contemporary times [11]. During the age of Hippocrates of Kos in 5th century BCE, and in later Greek texts of the 4th century BCE commonly ascribed to him, black elderberry or aktê (elder or elder tree) was one of 44 primary plants utilized for therapeutic purposes, 22 of which were listed in a dietary Regimen of Mediterranean plants to be eaten to achieve a healthy life. As a health-food, black elderberry accompanied garlic, leek, beet, sage, celery, fennel, oregano, cabbage, barley, wheat, blackberry, and others. Black elderberry otherwise served in treating diarrhea, conditions classified in ancient Greek medicine as disorders of the brain, bile, or phlegm, and patients diagnosed with dyscrasia [12]. Although the Greek dyscrasia literally means bad temperament and could today be loosely interpreted as a ‘pathologic condition’ [13], the ancient Greeks viewed the cause as an abnormality in the balance of the 4 humors or fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile [14].

      Black elderberry later appears in the writings of the Greek physician- botanist Pedanius Dioscorides (40–90 CE) [15]. His widely consulted work, De Materia Medica, served as the foundation for traditional European medicines as late as the 19th century [16]. Dioscorides described the basic therapeutic actions of the plant as cooling and driving out water. Referring to the berries, he recorded that hair smeared with them was dyed black, and that when taken with wine they opened and softened the uterus and corrected problems associated with the organ [15].

      Both the combination with wine and the effect of removing water are noted by historian and naturalist Gaius Plinius Secundus (CE 23–79), a Roman contemporary of Dioscorides widely known as Pliny the Elder. More specific than Dioscorides, Pliny claimed the berries were diuretic at doses of 1 acetabulum (approx. 64 grams) when taken in drink [17].

      The soft pith in the center of the branches [7] is the most likely reason for Pliny’s description of black elderberry as a spongy plant. He noted that the wood was used by shepherds to create a horn or trumpet, and that children hollowed the branches to create whistles and pop-guns [18]. Centuries later, in Spain, children hollowed the branches to make blow-guns, for which hemp seeds served as shot [19]. Today, children in Europe and beyond are more likely to know black elderberry from the magical adventures of the fictional character Harry Potter as the source of the coveted elder wand [20].

      Pliny referred to elder trees as sabucus and to their berries as sambucum [18]. Once thought to be of uncertain origin [21], sabucus is the Latinized name of an older Aramaic term (sabb‘ka; pronounced sab-bek-aw’) for a kind of a stringed musical instrument. Long before the Latin binomial Sambucus nigra L. in the 18th century, the same Aramaic loan term gave way to the Latin sambucus for black elderberry, and to the Greek sambuca for a stringed instrument. Introduced into Greek culture in the 5th century BCE from Lydia – a kingdom formerly occupying today’s western, central Turkey – the sambuca was mainly played during promiscuous festivals. But whether it was made from the wood of black elderberry is not known for certain [reviewed in ref. 22].

      In the province of Yannina in northwestern Greece, the area of Zagori became famous during the 17th to 19th centuries as a source of herbal medicine and healing. Obtaining their medicinal plants from the region, herbalists of Zagori used recipes copied from the times of Dioscorides and Hippocrates combined with personal experience and beliefs. In the early 1990s, an ethnobotanical survey, conducted by interviewing local inhabitants, examining old Greek prescriptions, and checking the reliability of information against contemporary literature sources, found black elderberry continued to be recognized by the locals for the treatment of stomach complaints and respiratory ailments. Without divulging the plant parts, the study identified historical uses of black elderberry in Zagori for the treatment of coughs, colds, fever, influenza, malaria, arthritis, rheumatism, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatic problems, heart disorders, and swellings of the skin. Black elderberry additionally served as a diuretic, diaphoretic, and expectorant, as well as a tonic and stimulant categorized among Greek herbal medicines used as analgesics, sedatives, and antispasmodics. Probably referring to the berries, black elderberry also served as a source of dye [23].

      Germany

      During the early 17th century, a German-born physician named Martin Blochwich (1602–1629) [24,25] described preparations made from the different plant parts of black elderberry and medical indications for their use. Combining experience, earlier Latin manuscripts, and therapeutic applications of black elderberry among the common people, Blochwich instructed in the preparation of wines, syrups, tinctures, ointments, extracts, oils, and salts. While some of the plant parts were used interchangeably, whether the roots, bark, stems, leaves, flowers, buds, or berries, each one was recognized for value [25]. Other than the fruit, however, the various parts are beyond the focus of the present monographic review.

      A rob or thickened juice prepared by heating the berry juice over low

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