Elderberry: composition and calorie content, useful properties, harm and contraindications to the product. What dishes can you cook with her.
Harm and contraindications to the use of elderberry
Like any plant, there are still contraindications to elderberry. It is not useful for everyone to use it, and in some diseases it is even harmful.
Categories of people who will not benefit from this plant:
- Pregnant and lactating … Women who are expecting a baby or who are breastfeeding may have poisoning, vomiting, or diarrhea when using elderberry, caused by hydrocyanic acid. It is formed under the influence of a far from useful substance - amygdalin, found in raw berries.
- Children under 12 years of age … Due to amygdalin, which has a toxic effect and promises bad consequences, elderberry is not advised to be given to children of the specified age, either in the form of a drug or in the form of a dish with its content.
- Patients with chronic gastrointestinal disease (Crohn's disease) or ulcerative colitis … The already mentioned substance has a laxative and diuretic effect, so preparations with elderberry will not be beneficial for such diseases.
- People with diabetes … Elderberries lower blood sugar levels. There is a risk of hypoglycemia with the simultaneous use of the fruits of this plant and drugs for the treatment of diabetes.
- Patients with individual intolerance … It is not recommended to consume products containing elderberry if people suffer from allergic reactions or simply the body does not accept them.
- Patients taking diuretics … Elderberries have a similar effect, i.e. they free the body from excess fluid, so diuretic pills, powders or injections cannot be combined with these fruits in order to avoid dehydration.
- People with autoimmune diseases … With the simultaneous use of medicines and elderberries, the effect of reducing the effect of the drugs taken is likely.
Elderberry is a weakly toxic plant, so it should not be overused so that it does not turn into harm. And if there are any doubts about the application, it is better to consult a doctor in order to avoid bad consequences.
Elderberry recipes
In ancient times, elderberry was used for medicinal purposes. And they also made a salad from it and other healthy herbs. Berry juice found another application: it made excellent home-made vodka. Fresh flowers of this plant, lemon juice, sugar and water are the components of the refreshing drink. Today elderberry is also used in various dishes. Jam, jam, jam, wine, liqueur, compote, jelly and syrup, fragrant tea with an unusual taste are prepared from berries.
If you are going to cook something using elderberry, then the berries should be picked in remote places from transport routes or in abandoned settlements, i.e. so that no harmful dust can settle on them. And, in addition to this, it is better to pick the fruits in dry, not rainy weather. Elderberry recipes:
- Elderberry juice … We wash 1 kg of berries and boil for 5 minutes. Then knead the fruits, squeeze out the juice, add 400 g of sugar and pour into a sterilized container. After that we roll it up.
- Elderberry puree … Rinse 1 kg of berries and boil for 5 minutes. Then, after draining the liquid, grind the fruit to a thick puree with a wooden pestle. Then add sugar and bring to a boil. Then put in liter jars and sterilize for 15 minutes. Roll up and wrap until cooled.
- Elderberry jam … We will cook this dish exclusively from ripe berries. So, we wash 1 kg of elderberry fruit. Then fill them with syrup, which we will prepare in this way: take 200 ml of water and 800 g of sugar and bring to a boil. And then we will cook our jam until tender.
- Elderberry jam with its own juice … First, we wash the berries. Then sprinkle them with sugar in a 1: 1 ratio and wait for the elderberry to let the juice out. Then we cook the jam until tender. In the presence of such a delicacy, honey is not needed when coughing, and it also improves the functioning of the digestive tract.
- Elderberry compote … In other words, an assorted drink made from 1 kg of elderberry and the same amount of other berries, apples, pears or plums. First you need to rinse the compote products. Then they should be boiled for 10 minutes. Then put in liter jars, pour the syrup (400 ml of water and 1600 g of sugar) and sterilize for 15 minutes. We close the container with iron lids. Bon Appetit!
- Elderberry drink … It can be prepared from both dried and fresh berries. For the recipe, you need to take, respectively, 100 g or 300 g. Pour the fruits with 1 liter of water, bring to a boil and add sugar to taste. Strain the berries. In terms of its qualities, the drink will surpass any juice or sweet water from the supermarket, not to mention the benefits.
- Long-liver drink … First, prepare a decoction of 1 tablespoon of dried berries and 500 ml of water. Then we drain the liquid and add 2 tablespoons of honey. Drinking hot is more beneficial. Drink to your health and live long!
- Elderberry syrup … Pour 1 kg of washed fruits with 2 glasses of water and keep on fire for 15 minutes. We squeeze the juice, add 1 kg of sugar, after boiling, pour it into a prepared container. And we store it in the refrigerator.
- Elderberry jam … First you need to rinse fresh fruits (1 kg) and grind them. Then mix the ground mass with 1 kg of sugar and 2 glasses of water and cook the jam.
- Elderberry pouring … For this recipe, we need to take 200 g of syrup (see recipe # 7) and mix it with 1 glass of water. Then we pour it into 1 liter of vodka and keep it for 3-4 days. Enjoy your meal!
- Elderberry wine … 1.5 kg of elderberries (washed, of course) cook for 2.5 hours in 6 liters of water. Strain off the liquid, add 1 kg of sugar and keep on low heat for another 1 hour. After the wine has cooled down, you can, at your discretion, add 20 pieces of raisins, cover the dishes with a cloth, and let it ferment. After completing this process, remove the foam, pour it into bottles and leave for 4 weeks. This wine is very useful for people with kidney and liver diseases. But you should not drink a lot of it, about 50 ml per day.
- Elderberry honey … First, fill a liter jar with elderberry flowers (without twigs). Then fill them with sugar syrup (1: 1 - water and sugar). We leave for a day, then keep on low heat for 20 minutes, filter without cooling. This medicinal honey will protect your health in cold weather. Do not be ill!
- Summer tea … This drink is made from dried fruits and leaves. So, pour boiling water over 10 g of elderberry berries, the same amount of rose hips, 20 g of strawberry leaves and the same amount of black currant. Let it brew for 10 minutes. Can be drunk with sugar.
Interesting facts about elderberry
Our ancestors endowed elderberry with amazing properties, as it is a very ancient and widespread plant. At first, it grew in the southern regions, and then, due to its “unpretentious nature,” it took root in warm territories.
In pre-Christian times, it was believed that the elderberry bush in the yard protects from bad spirits, and therefore they were especially treated and protected. It is a great sin to those who destroyed this plant. In some localities, they bowed their heads for a long time if they encountered a bush or elderberry tree on the way. They decorated the house with its branches and believed that by doing so they were protecting it from various misfortunes.
In the Middle Ages, the elderberry bush was called the "witch bush" and it was believed that its branches are the place where evil creatures live. The plant was considered dangerous and was used when fortune-telling or performing magical rites.
In Poland and Ukraine, from generation to generation, they told a belief about a devil who lived in a large pit under an elderberry bush. Fearing to anger the evil spirits, no one even thought to dig it up. They believed that digging up an elderberry could lead to very disastrous consequences. Therefore, if it was necessary to do this, then they hired cripples or the mentally ill.
Nothing was planted where the elderberry bush grew. The Western Slavs were also forbidden to burn this plant, sleep and urinate under it, make toys out of it for children, so as not to have a headache.
In the Balkans, elderberries were used to make it rain. During the First World War in Czechoslovakia, a soldier with affected lungs was given wine from elderberry juice, and this helped.
Watch a video about elderberry:
Elderberry not only has a huge amount of nutrients, but also gives an unusual taste to dishes prepared with its berries, whether they are dry or fresh. It will not be difficult to make stocks of jam or wine, dry berries or inflorescences. But it will bring considerable benefit to our body. And it will add variety to our table.