Elderberry Immune Syrup

The fruit is Sambucus nigra L., family Viburnaceae under current placement and still shown as Adoxaceae or Caprifoliaceae in older references, harvested ripe and processed as juice concentrate at about 65 degrees Brix or as a spray-dried fruit extract. Typical concentrate input specifications run Brix 65 plus or minus 2 at 20 degrees Celsius, pH 3.3 to 4.5 and acidity around 6.25 percent expressed as malic. The colour and the analytical handle are the same thing: elderberry anthocyanins, with cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside-5-O-glucoside together accounting for more than 98 percent of the total anthocyanin content, which makes HPLC the working identity test as well as the potency test. We declare total anthocyanins on the certificate of analysis as cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalents at the level you specify. Heat treatment is not optional and it is worth stating plainly to any buyer new to the fruit. Elderberry carries cyanogenic glycosides, sambunigrin among them, and the European Medicines Agency's public statement on Sambucus nigra L., fructus makes the point that the berries must be processed rather than used raw. Every batch behind this syrup is heat-processed; raw or under-processed berry material is not used and is not accepted from suppliers. The same public statement is the reason no EU herbal monograph could be established for the fruit, so in the EU and in India elderberry syrup sells as a food supplement rather than as a registered traditional herbal medicine, and the labelling has to be written accordingly. The base is a commercial decision with an allergen and a labelling consequence. A sucrose or glucose syrup base and a vegetable glycerine base are both vegan; a honey base is not vegan, is not vegetarian for some buyers' definitions, and must carry the standard warning against giving honey to infants under twelve months. None of the three brings milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten, peanut or tree nut into the product. Preservation is by potassium sorbate (E202) or sodium benzoate (E211) at the buyer's declared level, or by hot-fill with no added preservative where the pH and the packaging allow it; benzoate works well at elderberry's natural acidity. Bottle sizes, dosing spoons or cups, and paediatric versus adult strengths are all set at the brief stage.