Black elder is a popular medicinal plant. Its flowers contain flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins, essential oil and other compounds. The fruits contain carbohydrates, anthocyanins, flavonoids, tannins, fatty acids, vitamins C and B2, folic acid and organic acids. According to research results, its flower extracts show anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity, and they control the blood glucose level, whereas fruit extracts have immunostimulatory, antiviral, antibacterial and antioxidative activity. Alcoholic extracts of fruits and leaves show anti-toxoplasma activity. The objective of the present study was to determine selected chemical elements (using ICP-OES), total polyphenolic compounds (using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent) and antioxidative activity (using the radical DPPH and total activity of iron (III) ions reduction by FRAP) in aqueous extracts of black elder-based materials. The test material included the flowers, leaves and fruits of Sambucus nigra from eight locations. The samples were powdered and sieved prior to obtaining extracts. The findings underwent the Spearman's rank correlation analysis and cluster analysis. The tests confirmed the presence of very high and high correlations between certain chemical elements and the content of polyphenols versus antioxidative activity in the raw materials. The results of the cluster analysis revealed a series of correlations between antioxidative activity, total polyphenols and the chemical elements determined.

27.3.2022