All About Passion Flower
Passion flower has anxiolytic benefits that can also help reduce insomnia, ADHD, menopausal symptoms, and drug addiction withdrawal anxiety. It may also have aphrodisiac qualities, help with digestion, reduce coughs, reduce seizures, and help reduce diabetes. More human studies are warranted on all these topics.
Fun Fact
The passionflower has hairs that produce a sticky liquid to trap bugs and kill them. However, it struggles at digesting the bug's nutrients, so it is classified as a protocarnivorous plant.
Passion Flower Research
Multiple human studies were found showing passion flower can help reduce anxiety. Human studies were also found on passionflower as an aid in reducing insomnia, ADHD, menopausal symptoms, and drug addiction stress. More human studies are needed. A few other scientific studies suggest passion flower may have aphrodisiac qualities, help reduce diabetes, coughing, digestive infections, and seizures; human studies are needed.
Passion Flower Herb
Latin Name: Passiflora incarnata
Family: Passifloraceae
Other Common Names
- Apricot vine, grandilla, maracuya, maypop, passion vine, water lemon
Plant Description
Passionflower is a vine like plant with large ornamental purple flowers that attract insects. Leaves have three lobes.
Herb Description
The above ground parts are primarily used to make a tea, dried herb, tincture, or extract. Adult max dose up to three times a day is up to one gram of the dried herb. As a tea, 2 grams of dried herb steeped in 250 mL of boiling water for 10 minutes has been used for up to seven days (Natural Medicines, 2017).
Key Constituents
- Flavonoids (apigenin)
- Alkaloids (harman, harmaline)
- Maltol
- A carotenoid called lycopene
