What is Bird cherry?

Bird cherry is a small northern tree, Prunus padus. Scandinavians know it as hegg, hägg or tuomi. Its black summer fruits are bitter and make the mouth pucker.

The ripe fruit pulp is used as food across the Nordic countries and Russia. It goes into juice, syrup, jam and flavoured spirits. Folk healers also used the bark, leaves and flowers.

One point comes before everything else. The seeds, bark and leaves hold compounds that can release cyanide, a fast-acting poison. Crushing or chewing those parts is what sets it free.

The honest verdict is simple. There are no human trials of bird cherry for any health use. Long use in tradition is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.

How does Bird cherry work?

No one has shown that bird cherry treats anything in people. So everything below is a proposed path, not a proven one.

The fruit is full of dark purple pigments called anthocyanins. In test-tube work these pigments mop up reactive molecules. Whether that changes health in the body is not known.

The drying, puckering feel comes from tannins. In laboratory studies tannins bind proteins and can tighten up irritated gut lining. That is the usual reason given for the old use in diarrhoea.

Some bark extracts slow bacteria and fungi in lab dishes. That tells you nothing about what happens in a person.

The bark and seeds also hold prunasin and amygdalin. When the tissue is crushed, a plant enzyme frees hydrogen cyanide from them. This is a toxic effect, not a healing one, and it is the main reason to treat these parts with respect.

What forms does Bird cherry come in?

Most bird cherry you will meet is food, not medicine. There is no standard extract and no agreed strength.

Fresh fruit is picked in late summer. It is sharp, bitter and very drying in the mouth.

Juice, syrup, jam and jelly are the usual household forms. Nordic and Russian cooks also flavour spirits with the fruit or the flowers.

Dried fruit flour is sold in Russia and eastern Europe. It is milled with the stones, so the cyanide question applies to it. Buy only from sellers who control this properly.

Bark decoctions, leaf teas and tinctures turn up in old folk texts. These are the risky forms. This page gives no method for making them.

Where it comes from:

Bird cherry has a long, well recorded place in Nordic life. Farms used the flowering of hegg to mark the turn of the season.

The fruit was boiled into juice, jam and spirits, and dried for winter. In Finland and Sweden the sharp juice was taken for upset stomachs and loose bowels.

Old Norwegian and Swedish folk texts also describe bark decoctions. These were used for coughs, fevers and aching joints, and as a wash for sores. Healers warned that the bark was strong and best left to those who knew it.

Branches were hung in barns and houses to drive off insects and moths. Some rural customs treated the tree as unlucky to cut or bring indoors.

None of this history amounts to testing, and this page does not present it as a reason to self-treat.

What does Bird cherry help with?

• Diarrhoea and loose stools: This is the best known folk use, and it has no trial behind it. Nordic households gave the bitter fruit or its juice for loose bowels. Tannins in the fruit do bind proteins in lab tests, which is the usual explanation offered. No controlled study has tested bird cherry in people with diarrhoea. Diarrhoea in a baby, a young child or an older adult can cause dangerous fluid loss, so it needs medical care, not folk remedies.
• Upset stomach: Traditional claim only, with no human evidence. The juice was taken in small amounts for a sour or unsettled stomach. Large amounts of the fruit can do the opposite and cause stomach pain or sickness. Nothing has been measured in people.
• Coughs and chest colds: Old texts describe bark and flower preparations for coughs. There is no human evidence that they help. The bark is also the part richest in cyanide-forming compounds. That combination makes this one of the least sensible uses to copy. This page gives no preparation method for bark.
• Fevers: Bark decoctions were used as fever drinks in some Nordic and Russian folk practice. No study has tested whether bird cherry lowers a fever in people. A fever that is high, long or comes with a stiff neck, rash or confusion needs a doctor the same day.
• Aching joints: Bark and leaf washes were applied to painful joints and limbs. Some Prunus barks hold salicylate-like compounds, which are chemical relatives of aspirin. This has not been tested in people with joint pain, and the amount in bird cherry is not well described. Treat this as folklore.
• Washes for sores and sore eyes: Weak bark or flower washes were used on skin sores, and sometimes on sore eyes. Lab tests show some bird cherry extracts slow bacteria in a dish. Whether that happens on skin is not established. Do not put home-made plant washes in your eyes. Eye infections need proper treatment.
• Food and drink flavouring: This use is real and needs no health claim. The ripe pulp makes juice, jam, syrup and flavoured spirits, and dried fruit flour is used in baking in Russia and eastern Europe. Eaten as food, the pulp is not a medicine and should not be expected to act as one.

Which foods are rich in Bird cherry?

1. Fresh bird cherry fruit
2. Bird cherry juice and syrup
3. Bird cherry jam and jelly
4. Dried bird cherry flour (Russia and eastern Europe)
5. Spirits and liqueurs flavoured with the fruit or flowers

Practical Tips:

Bird cherry is a seasonal wild food, not a staple. The pulp is what people eat.

Cooking into jam or syrup is the common way to tame the bitterness. Stones are normally strained out, and they should be.

Dried bird cherry flour is milled with the stones. Use only flour from a maker who tests and controls this.

What are the side effects of Bird cherry?

• Dry, puckered mouth from the tannins
• Stomach cramps
• Nausea or vomiting after large amounts of fruit
• Diarrhoea after large amounts of fruit
• Itchy mouth or lips in people allergic to stone fruits
• Rash or itching from handling leaves and bark
• Headache, dizziness, flushing, fast breathing or confusion: these point to cyanide poisoning and are an emergency

Good to know:

Small amounts of cooked fruit cause few problems in most people. A dry mouth and a sharp taste are the usual complaints.

Large amounts of raw fruit upset the stomach. Children are more easily affected because they are smaller.

The serious risk is different in kind. Crushed seeds, bark and leaves can release cyanide, and poisoning comes on fast. Treat any headache, dizziness, fast breathing or confusion after eating these parts as an emergency.

How much Bird cherry should you take?

• Recommended daily: No medicinal amount is given here, and that is deliberate. There are no trials, no standard products and no label doses to quote. The parts used in folk medicine — bark, leaves, twigs and seeds — are also the parts that can release cyanide. Fruit foods such as jam, juice and syrup are ordinary foods. Eat them as food, in normal food amounts. Never crush or eat the stones, and do not treat bird cherry as a dose of anything.
• Best time of day: Time of day does not matter for a food. Jam, juice or syrup can be taken whenever you would eat them.
• With or without food: Treat the fruit products as food and take them with meals or as part of one. A large amount of the sharp fruit on an empty stomach can cause cramps or sickness in some people.
• Time to effect: There is no reliable answer, because no health effect has been shown in people. The astringent, drying taste is felt at once. That is a taste, not a treatment. It is entirely possible that bird cherry does nothing for any health problem you are hoping to treat.
• How long to take it: No safe length of use can be stated, because no useful amount can be stated either. Fruit foods are eaten in season, as food, for as long as you like them. Bark and leaf preparations should not be used at all, for any length of time.