Botanic specificity

Sambucus nigra L. known as “elderberry, black elder, and European elder” has become more and more popular due to its promising antiviral and immunomodulatory effects. It has a very long history as a medicinal plant, Elderberries are dark violet-black drupes which grow in clusters and owe their colour to the anthocyanins;a group of phenolic compounds which, amongst flavonoids, are abundant in elderberries and considered the active constituents of the fruits.

Consumer trend

As Immunity category exploded with COVID19, Elderberry reached 150% growth from 2019 to 2020. Total sales was $275 million in the US meanstream channel. The market witness supply issues since demand exploded and adulteration risk increases: Not getting the right species (Sambucus Nigra) - Fraudulant addition of anthocyanin from other sources than Elderberry.

Sourcing challenge

As the market faces challenges related to Elderberry extract authenticity, we select the right species (Sambucus Nigra L.) with its naturally occurring anthocyanin (cyanidin-3-sambubioside & cyanindin-3-glucoside) and perform the quality testing to affirm the ingredient’s genuine origin. BKD, we source our Elderberry in Zhejiang area. We select the fruit juice that is concentrated to obtain a powder standardized to 10% anthocyanins and we can also offer an extract ratio (5:1).