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Melissa officinalis L. (Lamiaceae)

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Handbook of 200 Medicinal Plants

Abstract

The plant is naturalized in many countries, and is widely cultivated in northern Mediterranean region, Central Asia, China, Europe and North America for its medicinal value as herbal tea. Imported variety from Persia was used for hypochondriacal affections, and was also a domestic remedy in Europe for febrile affections. It is refrigerant and cardiotonic and it protects heart from black bile unlike any other drug. It is useful in anxiety and palpitation, and application of its leaves’ water (juice) is beneficial in eczema and bilious boils; it attracts honey bees. Its traditional uses have been recorded mostly in European countries, Mediterranean region and the Middle East countries. Old European reference books on medicinal herbs document its memory-improving properties, and during the middle ages a recommendation by Paracelsus that the balm would completely revivify a man and for ‘all complaints supposed to proceed from a disordered state of the nervous system’ helped extend its widespread use throughout Europe. Currently it is used in traditional European medicines to treat insomnia, anxiety, psychiatric conditions, migraines, gastric disorders, hypertension and bronchial afflictions, and as antibacterial agent, but more widely used as a mild sedative and sleep aid. It is predominantly sold in combination with other herbs, most often combined with Valeriana officinalis as sleep aid to improve quality of poor sleepers. Its decoctions are also used as functional beverages in Portugal. In Italian folk medicine it is used for nervous complaints, lower abdominal disorders and for the treatment of Herpes simplex lesions. The plant contains volatile compounds, triterpenoids, phenolic acids and flavonoids. More than 100 chemical constituents have been identified in M. officinalis, the chief ones include citral, linalool, geraniol, β-caryophyllene oxide, phenolic acid, tannins, rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid. In double-blinded, balanced crossover RCTs, healthy volunteers receiving a single low dose of a standardized leaf extract showed significant improvement in mathematical processing speed, without affecting accuracy, and a higher dose ameliorated negative mood effects of laboratory-induced psychological stress with significant increase in self-rated calmness and reduced alertness.

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    Shahid Akbar

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Akbar, S. (2020). Melissa officinalis L. (Lamiaceae). In: Handbook of 200 Medicinal Plants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16807-0_126

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