SAMBUCUS IN THE WORLD
There is a folk song that highlights the importance of the elderberry,
“Skin, leaf, flower and fruit, each piece is a
treasure”19. The medicinal plant is used to relieve
stress, various stomach ailments, high cholesterol, congestion, and to
fight all strains of the flu. Elderberries additionally promote a
healthy complexion and strengthen the body’s immune system. The main
elderberry species is Sambucus nigra, which is native and common in
Europe and the UK. It is found wild along hedgerows, edges of woodlands
and on waste ground. Sambucus canadensis, the American elderberry,
originates from northern America, and is similar to Sambucus
nigra.19 Sambucus caerule, the blue elderberry and
Sambucus mexicana, are similar species’, with the latter originating
from warmer climates. The fruit may be blue, bright-blue, or
red.19
Since the launch of Sambucol in the US in 1995, and achievement of the
Vity Awards in 1997, 1998, 1999, numerous products have appeared and the
beneficial properties of elderberry are now known
worldwide20,21. Sambucus nigra L. product –Sambucol
was shown to be effective in vitro against 10 strains of influenza
virus. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study, Sambucol
reduced the duration of flu symptoms to 3-4 days.22. A
standardized elderberry extract, (Sambucus nigra), reduced
hemagglutination and inhibited replication of human influenza viruses
type A/Shandong 9/93 (H3N2), A/Beijing32/92 (H3N2), A /Texas3 6/91 (H1,
N1) A, /Singapore6 /85(H1N1)23. On influenza A and B
viruses, elderberry extract offers an efficient, safe and cost-effective
supplement to the present armamentarium of medications for the
prophylaxis and treatment of influenza24. The
elderberry extract inhibited Human Influenza A (H1N1) infection in vitro
with an IC50 value of 252 ± 34 lg/mL. The Direct Binding Assay
established that flavonoids from the elderberry extract bind to H1N1
virions and, when bound, block the ability of the viruses to infect host
cells. These flavonoids are the major contributors to the anti-influenza
activity of the elderberry extract. The molecular mode-of-action of
these flavonoids was determined by demonstrating their direct binding to
H1N1 virus particles resulting in the inability of the H1N1 viruses to
enter host cells, effectively preventing H1N1 infection in
vitro25. The action of elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is
both direct – suppressing viral entry, affecting the post-infection
phase, and viral transmission from cell to cell, and indirect – by
modulating the release of cytokines such as IL-6, IL-8, and
TNF26.
Elderberry contains flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties and
may help to prevent damage to the body’s cells. However, very few
studies have been done in humans, so researchers have no exact data
about the effectiveness of elderberry. Of the several species of elder,
Sambucus nigra, the European or black elder, is used the most commonly
for medicinal purposes. The dwarf elder (Sambucus ebulus) is to be
avoided as it is toxic. Recommendations suggest using a trusted
preparation of elder, raw or unripe fruit –as well as the leaves,
seeds, and rind –contain a chemical related to cyanide, which is
poisonous27,28.
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L. subsp. nigra) is a European species with
an oceanic, sub-oceanic, cool-temperate and west-Mediterranean range.
This species is common in western and central Europe as well as North
Africa, Scandinavia and Great Britain. Its distribution range reaches
63°N latitude in western Norway (with scattered naturalized shrubs up to
at least 68°N) and approximately 55°N in
Lithuania27,28.
The name of Sambuce comes from an ancient Greek wind instrument,
in reference to the removal of pith from the twigs to make
whistles29. There are 26 species recognized inSambuce 23 and we have found
20 species in the NCBI-National
Center for Biotechnology Information advances science and health by
providing access to biomedical and genomic
information30.
The sequence of the 20 elderberry species from NCBI and the known
sequences on NCBI were clustered by software MEGA 10.0 (Fig. 1). Our
results showed that the 20 elderberry species were classified into 3
main Sambucus group with 5 species in the Pink-Color-Group:S. canadensis in eastern North America; S. javanica in
southeastern Asia; S. nigra in Europe and North America; S.
palmensis in Canary Islands; S. peruviana in Costa Rica, Panama
and northwest South America and 5 species in the Green-Color-Group:S. adnate in Himalaya and eastern Asia; S. australasica in
New Guinea, eastern Australia; S. ebulus in central and southern
Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia; S. wightiana in
western Himalayas; S. gaudichaudiana in south eastern Australia
and 9 species in the Blue-Color-Group : S. callicarpa in west
coast of North America; S. cerulea in western North America;S. melanocarpa in western North America; S. microbotrys in
southwest North America; S. pubens in northern North America;S. racemosa in northern Europe, northwest Asia and central North
America; S. sieboldiana in Japan and Korea; S. tigranii in
southwest Asia; S. williamsii in northeast Asia.
Solo specie is Sambucus australis in South America (Fig.1) and we
could not find 6 species from NCBI:Sambucus lanceolata in
Madeira Island; Sambucus latipinna in Korea, southeast Siberia;Sambucus orbiculata in western North America; Sambucus
sibirica in eastern Asia; Sambucus simpsonii in southeastern
United States; Sambucus velutina in southwestern North America.