The perennial, fruit-bearing elderberry plant has been used by humans for a variety of purposes throughout recorded history. Elderberries ripen and are ready for harvest in mid to late summer. After harvest, the leaves stay on the plant into the fall. This study examines the viability of using the post-harvest, latent American elderberry (Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis) leaf biomass as a feed source for ruminant livestock by analyzing its nutritive value as measured by dry matter, organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin, and crude protein. Six cultivars of elderberry were analyzed over two seasons at two locations in Missouri. There was little consistency observed within plant nutrient content between the two locations when looking at individual cultivars, suggesting that growing conditions may have a larger effect on leaf biomass quality than cultivar traits. Similar to other forages, the analyses in this study showed an increase over the growing season in neutral detergent fiber content (P [less than] 0.001), with the lowest concentration in May (22.5 [plus or minus] 1.30 percent), and the highest in August (27.3 [plus or minus] 1.31 percent). An expected decrease in crude protein content was observed over the growing season (P [less than] 0.001), with the highest concentration in May (24.8 [plus or minus] 0.50 percent), and the lowest in September (10.6 [plus or minus] 0.54 percent). When compared to other tree fodders such as willow (Salix sp.) and mulberry (Morus sp.), elderberry leaf biomass displayed a comparable nutrient profile. Analysis of four cyanogenic glycosides known to be present in elderberry juice shows only dhurrin concentration differed between cultivars at both locations (P = 0.007). This study found that the sampled biomass had a maximum potential cyanogenic glycoside concentration of 117.4 [mu]g/g, but the average concentration was much lower at 12.1 [mu]g/g, which is well below the recommended threshold for acute cyanide toxicity of 500 [mu]g/g. This suggests that American elderberry leaf biomass likely presents a low risk of toxicity for ruminant livestock throughout the growing season when grown under study conditions.Includes bibliographical references
