Ribes nigrum, blackcurrant, is a deciduous shrub from central and northern Europe. The leaves have a long history of use in herbal medicine, used as an anti-inflammatory for rheumatism, arthritis, and gout. The astringent properties of the leaves are used to treat diarrhea and respiratory problems in European herbal medicine. The fresh leaves have been externally used for wounds and insect bites as a poultice or compress. Chemical analyses identified various phenolic compounds, including epoxylignans, flavonols, and proanthocyanidins. Most of them displayed anti-oxidant activities from buds and leaves, and interestingly, chemical composition changes over the growth, enabling optimization of active compounds content by cultivation conditions.