Friday, August 9, 2024

The Health Benefits and Practical Uses of Lemon Balm

Introduction

For centuries, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L., a member of the mint family) has been utilised in herbal medicine. The name comes from the Greek word “melissa”, which means honeybee. Lemon balm was traditionally used as an infusion in the amount of 10–25 g/day as an antispasmodic, anti-anxiety, and sleep-inducing agent and for digestive problems, wrinkles, and skin erythema 1. Lemon balm has also various practical uses, such as panacea, ethereal oil, shrubby plantations (hedge), and insect-repellent plant.

Essential oil of lemon balm was used in a variety of cosmetic and perfumery formulations and is regarded as a baseline fragrance in perfumery. Essential oil isolated from aerial parts of lemon balm in 10 plants has also been used in traditional medicine, perfumes, odorous, soaps, and food industries.

The main bioactive compounds in lemon balm are phenolic acids (rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid, chicoric acid, and ferulic acid) and flavonoids (luteolin, apigenin, ericetin, and quercetin). Prevention of cellular and plasma lipoproteins oxidation and inhibition of pro-oxidative enzyme activities including lipoxygenase, cyclooxygenase, xanthine oxidase, and angiotensin-converting enzyme are other important biological activities of lemon balm. Plant extracts have also hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, antithrombotic and mild hypoglycemic abilities 2.

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Friday, August 9, 2024