Lemonbalm

The leaves are used as an herb, in teas and also as a flavouring. The plant is used to attract bees for honey production. It is grown as an ornamental plant and for its oil (to use in perfumery).

 

Lemon balm is used as a flavouring in ice cream and herbal teas, often in combination with other herbs such as spearmint. The leaves are not dried when used for tea. It is a common addition to peppermint tea, mostly because of its complementing flavor.  Lemon balm is also used with fruit dishes or candies. It can be used in fish dishes and is the main ingredient in lemon balm pesto. Its flavour comes from geraniol (3–40%), neral (3–35%), geranial (4–85%) (both isomers of citral), (E)-caryophyllene (0–14%), and citronellal (1–44%).  It is also one of the ingredients in Spreewald gherkins.

 

 The use of lemon balm can be dated to over 2000 years ago through the Greeks and the Romans. It is mentioned by the Greek polymath Theophrastus in his Historia Plantarum, written in c.300 BC,as "honey-leaf" (μελισσόφυλλον).  Lemon balm was formally introduced into Europe in the 7th century, from which its use and domestication spread.  Its use in the Middle Ages is noted by herbalists, writers, philosophers, and scientists.

Lemon balm was a favourite plant of the Tudors, who scattered the leaves across their floors. It was in the herbal garden of the English botanist John Gerard in the 1590s, who considered it especially good for feeding and attracting honeybees. Especially cultivated for honey production, according to the authors Janet Dampney and Elizabeth Pomeroy, "bees were thought never to leave a garden in which it was grown".  It was introduced to North America by the first colonists from Europe; it was cultivated in the Gardens of Monticello, designed by the American statesman Thomas Jefferson.

 

The English botanist Nicholas Culpeper considered lemon balm to be ruled by the planet Jupiter in Cancer, and suggested it to be used for "weak stomachs", to cause the heart to become "merry", to help digestion, to open "obstructions of the brain", and to expel "melancholy vapors" from the heart and arteries.

 

In traditional Austrian medicine, M. officinalis leaves have been prescribed as a herbal tea, or as an external application in the form of an essential oil.

 

Lemon balm is the main ingredient of carmelite water, which is sold in German pharmacies.

 

The essential oil is used as a perfume ingredient.  It is used in toothpastes.

Rosmarinic acid (a compound in lemon balm) is believed to improve sleep in people with insomnia.

 

In lab test-tube studies lemon balm appears to kill a broad range of common viruses such as herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). HSV-1 is associated with cold sores and some cases of herpes.

Common side effects of lemon balm may include:

• Headache
• Nausea
• Bloating
• Gas
• Vomiting
• Indigestion
• Dizziness
• Stomach pain
• Anxiety
• Agitation

Culinary herb,   rosmarinic acid