Green Deanes Take on Elderberries. About elderberries… In the world of ripe elderberries you have blue and red… Yes, there is a rare white elderberry in Australia but for most of the world and most people their elderberry choices are limited blue or red… Red elderberries are strange in that the pulp is edible but the seeds are not. They must be processed out. The seeds of the red elderberry are not eaten because of cyanide-producing glycosides which are released upon digestion. So let’s move on the blue (or dark purple) elderberries. Elderberries Ripe elderberries are edible but… Most, if not all, foraging books say ripe blue elderberries are edible raw.) Usually there is no qualifier after that statement. There should be. If you have a bowl of ripe blueberries (Vaccinium) how many do you eat? A teaspoonful? Handful, half a cup, even a cup? No doubt you can, and rarely anything comes of it. What of ripe blue elderberries? Yes, you can eat a few raw, ripe blue elderberries, seeds included. A few. But many of us who teach foraging get a lot of feedback. And what we hear is that more than a few raw ripe blue elderberries causes digestive problem, often mild nausea. This is not get sick and die stuff. Just not feeling well though it is worse the smaller and younger you are meaning kids should not eat many of them raw. I have my suspicions that ripe blue elderberries also have a bit of proto-cyanide in their seeds as well. Dried, cooked or made into wine they are certainly fine. But this is one instance where published reports might require some qualifications. Sample but go easy on ripe, raw blue elderberries. Besides they taste much better dried or prepared. Unripe green elderberries are toxic. Do not eat those.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:08:50 +0000
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