Not every medicinal plant succeeds
grow houses on a windowsill or on a balcony, but lemon balm is possible.
However, is this herb worth the trouble? If we assume that it can be
taken only as a mild sedative, then probably not. But
in folk medicine, lemon balm is also effectively used as a laxative,
antispasmodic, antiemetic, stimulant of biliary motility
pathways and secretory function of the stomach, medicine for hypertension, atherosclerosis,
toxicosis and many other diseases.
Useful properties of lemon balm
Composition and nutrients
What exactly is used and in what form
Leaves and apical shoots of lemon balm are used when cooking
infusions, decoctions, tinctures, water vapor, extract. Use
raw materials both fresh and dried. Lemon balm is used externally
for the preparation of baths, rinses, poultices, lotions, compresses.
Widely used for the manufacture of medicinal products and in aromatherapy
essential oil of lemon balm.
Medicinal properties
Lemon balm leaves contain volatile oils (terpenes citral, citronelal,
geraniol, linoleum), tannins, bitterness, triterpenes (presented
ursular and oleanic acids), as well as organic
acids, including coffee and chlorogenic.
Melissa is a good sedative, antispasmodic, laxative,
antiemetic; enhances the secretory function of the stomach
and stimulates the motility of the biliary tract..
Lemon balm leaf extract has a powerful sedative effect.
Melissa stimulates the digestive system, she is credited with
antiviral and anti-inflammatory effect. Melissa used
as a bacteriostatic, as an effective remedy for nervous overexcitation,
with vegetative-vascular dystonia, sleep disturbances, with heart failure
rhythm, with pressure surges due to emotional overstrain;
with disruptions in digestion, autonomic neurosis,
gastritis
and carts,
caused by an emotional factor..
In official medicine
For sale in pharmacies, a tincture of lemon balm and “Grass
lemon balm“. Also, together with other natural
components, lemon balm is a part of such sedative medications,
as “Novo-Passit“,”Persen».
In folk medicine
- With tachycardia,
gastrointestinal disorders, insomnia,
neurasthenia, vegetative vascular dystonia, stress conditions are recommended
infusion: a tablespoon of lemon balm leaves is infused for
10 minutes in 400 ml of boiling water. Drink half a glass until 3 three
once a day. The effect of a plant on the body is explained by the fact
that the volatile oil reduces the sensitivity of the central nervous
systems. Alcohol is more effective in such cases.
tincture of lemon balm. Bacteriostatic and antiviral properties
lemon balm owes to the high content of tannins.. - An infusion is recommended as a sedative: 3 teaspoons
tablespoons of lemon balm leaves for a quarter of an hour in 200 ml of boiling water,
drink in small sips, warmed up, before bedtime.. - With nausea, toxicosis
in pregnant women (if there are no medical contraindications), problems
with sleep, neurosis, dizziness, anemia,
Lazy gut, skin rashes and painful periods
recommend to take infusion: 2 tablespoons of shoots-tops
lemon balm and its leaves are infused for 2 hours in 400 ml
boiling water. The strained infusion is drunk three times a day, 100 ml each shortly
before meals. - With diseases of the uterus and menstrual irregularities, it can
help lemon balm oil. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon balm leaves
insist for at least 5 days in 200 ml of vegetable oil, strain
and refrigerate, tightly closed. Oil is taken 1-2
once a day, 15 drops. - With atherosclerosis
and high blood pressure, it is useful to collect: lemon balm herb (4 tablespoons),
the herb of rue and creeping thyme (3 tablespoons each) is insisted in
boiling water for about 2 hours. For 200 ml of water, take a tablespoon of herbal
collection. The infusion must be drunk within . hours. - In case of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women (and with the permission of the doctor) it is advised
collection of lemon balm (4 tablespoons of chopped herbs), mint leaves
pepper and chamomile flowers
(3 tbsp. spoons). 4 tablespoons of the mixture of these herbs is infused
half an hour on a liter of boiling water. Drink 200 ml of infusion daily. - With a rapid heartbeat against a background of progressive neurosis
prescribe a collection: lemon balm leaves, yarrow herb,
St. John’s Wort
and valerian root
(just a teaspoon). The herbal infusion is kept for 3 hours at 400
ml of boiling water. Drink half a glass once a day.. - For amenorrhea, mix one part of lemon balm leaves, rosemary,
cherry or cherry stalks and 5 parts of the herb of the mountaineer.
Pour a tablespoon of this collection with 200 ml of water, boil and boil
5 minutes over low heat. Cool the broth, strain. Accept
100 ml, cold, daily morning and evening. - RџSЂRё
alcoholism is prescribed an infusion of lemon balm: a tablespoon of dry
pounded lemon balm leaves are steamed in 400 ml of boiling water. Insist
half an hour warm, then filter. The infusion must be drunk within
days, in small sips, with the addition of lemon. Takes off
symptoms of prolonged alcohol intoxication systematic
reception of infusion from the collection of herbs in equal proportions: lemon balm, thyme,
peppermint. - For chronic alcoholism, prepare a collection: dry, crushed
lemon balm leaves, peppermint herb, thyme, St. John’s wort, root
dandelion
(3 parts in total), wormwood
bitter, tansy flowers, yarrow (1,5 parts each), centaury,
angelica root, juniper fruit
(1 part each). 3 tablespoons of the herbal mixture is brewed in 300
ml of boiling water, insist in warmth for half an hour, filter. Drink infusion
2 tablespoons 8 to 10 times a day. Reception should be carried out
within 2 months. Then, after a break, continue the course
treatment.
How to prepare lemon balm tincture yourself?
Tincture
Grind 25 g of dry lemon balm leaves, pour 0,2 l of vodka and stand
in a dark place at room temperature for 14 days, from time to time
time shaking the infusion. After aging, strain. Accept
can be both internally and externally – for rubbing and massage
procedures.
Extract from fresh lemon balm
Fill the glass bottle with fresh (washed and dried)
lemon balm leaves. Pour the herbal mass with vegetable oil so that
so that the leaves are completely covered. When bubbles appear, the bottle
it is necessary to shake so that the air rises upward. Cover the bottle
cover and leave in a place without access to light. A month later, formed
Strain the oil infusion. The resulting liquid is used as
extract from lemon balm. To increase the concentration of essential oil,
you need to repeat the process based on the ready-made oil extract
and a new portion of fresh lemon balm..
Outwardly:
- With physical exhaustion, poor metabolism, as a general tonic
the remedy is prescribed a bath: mix the herb lemon balm, oregano,
wormwood, yarrow, mint, calamus root and pine buds (each
component take 20 g). Brew the herbal mixture in a liter of water,
let it brew, strain and add to a full bathroom. Accept
bath for no more than a quarter of an hour, at a water temperature of 38. - RџSЂRё
burns, poorly healing wounds, rubbed fresh leaves (or
dry, steamed in boiling water) lemon balm is applied in a thin
a layer of clean gauze to the damaged skin. - RџSЂRё
bedsores are recommended to be washed with chilled broth (3-4
boil spoons of herbal raw materials in 0,5 liters of water). - RџSЂRё
hemorrhoids, constipation, micro enema from fresh leaf juice is useful
lemon balm and boiled water. Take a teaspoon for 1 glass of warm water
a spoonful of lemon balm juice.. - With neuralgia, bruises, rheumatism
advise poultices: 2 tablespoons of crushed lemon balm leaves
put in a gauze “pocket”, dipped in boiling water, and then,
tolerantly hot applied to the inflamed area, wrapping
over a warm handkerchief or scarf. - For rinsing the mouth (in the presence of wounds, ulcers,
inflammation, sore gums) use a warm infusion: 2 tablespoons
tablespoons of lemon balm herb steamed 200 ml of boiling water, insist at least
60 minutes.. - RџSЂRё
sinusitis is helped by steam inhalations with lemon balm infusion,
which are done every hour (duration of inhalation is 5 minutes).
A cotton swab dipped in hot lemon balm infusion is injected into the nose, time
from time to time warming cotton wool in a heated infusion. This method eliminates
pain with sinusitis, acts as an antiseptic, accelerates healing
inflamed tissues, inhibits the growth of microbes. Also useful for
sinusitis turundas in the nose, soaked in 25% lemon balm tincture
on vodka..
Does lemon balm help with neurosis? ethnoscience
claims that a bath is useful for vegetative neurosis: prepare
decoction (75 g each of lemon balm herb and peppermint leaves and 30 g of inflorescences
boil chamomile in 3 liters of water for 5 minutes), mix
it with bath water..
In oriental medicine
Avicenna was one of the first representatives of medical science,
which pointed to the value of lemon balm in the treatment of depressive conditions
and melancholy.
In scientific research
The study of the medicinal properties of lemon balm goes back centuries. ABOUT
the healing value of the plant was mentioned by Dioscorides, Pliny, Paracelsus.
17th century English writer and gardener John Evelyn wrote about
melissa: “Melissa has a beneficial effect on performance
brain, it strengthens memory and relieves melancholy. ” Melissa,
infused with wine, “… normalizes cardiac activity and restores
psychological, emotional balance»..
Representatives of modern science are improving the system of medical
knowledge about this useful plant.
The properties of the essential oil of lemon balm, growing
in the northern regions of India, R.S. Verma, R.K. Paladia, A.
Chohan..
The composition of lemon balm essential oil is highlighted in the scientific work of K. Seidler-Lozikovskaya,
R. Zavirskoy-Voytasyak, E. Voitovich and J. Bosyanovski..
Melissa officinalis is the subject of a major scientific study
Iranian scientists (H. Moradakhi, E. Sarksyan, H. Bibak, B. Naseri
and etc.).
In the article by A.V. Alekseeva. neurotropic drugs are analyzed
on the basis of herbal lemon balm, the possibilities of
the use of lemon balm infusion in the practice of pediatricians..
The use of lemon balm preparations in the treatment of school-age children
with a diagnosis of non-ulcer dyspepsia analyzed in the work of Alekseeva
A.V. and Mazur L.I..
Pharmacognostic study for the standardization of new medicinal
remedies based on the herb lemon balm is the topic of the dissertation
Boltabekova ZV.
Potential for the use of products based on raw materials from lemon balm in pediatrics
disclosed in the study of Alekseeva A.V., Mazur L.I., Kurkina V.A..
In the “Bulletin of Ethnopharmacology” (2006) by a Portuguese researcher
A. Ferreira cited data on the possibility of using lemon balm
in disease therapy
Alzheimer’s (with an already developing ailment and to prevent it)..
In cooking
The characteristic and pleasant lemon scent of lemon balm made it familiar
and a popular ingredient, without which cooking is indispensable
many culinary masterpieces: pastries, desserts, original sauces
and marinades, drinks.
Lemon balm sauce
To make the sauce, you will need: 2 cups of fresh lemon balm leaves,
half a cup of olive
butter, 3-4 cloves of garlic. Grind all ingredients in a blender
to a pasty state. Serve with chicken or grilled fish,
or as a sauce for pasta.
Melissa cookies
Required: 2 tablespoons finely chopped lemon balm leaves,
1 teaspoon lemon
juice, a cup of softened butter, 23 cups of sugar,
1 egg, 2 and 1/3 cups flour, teaspoon salt, fresh lemon balm leaves
for decorating finished cookies. Grind chopped leaves
lemon balm with lemon juice. Beat butter and sugar. Into an oil mixture
stirring, gradually add the grated lemon balm, egg, flour
and salt. Knead the dough, form a ball, cover with cling film
and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until it hardens.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, roll out the dough, cut with
using the cookie cutters and bake until golden brown
within 8-10 minutes.
Melissa tea
To make tea you will need: a quarter cup of fresh leaves
lemon balm (and the same amount of fresh mint leaves), a teaspoon
dry or fresh lavender flowers,
3 small orange peels, 2 cups water. Pour boiling water over
all the ingredients, steaming tea in a large teapot and not insisting
less than 10 minutes. Strain and serve chilled.
Candied lemon balm leaves
Beat the egg with a little water until it is white. Dip each
lemon balm leaf in a whipped mass, and then roll in granulated sugar.
Arrange the leaves on a brazier lined with baking paper
and dry in the oven at 90 degrees for
20-30 minutes. The treat should be slightly golden, but not brown
color.
Lemon balm liquor
1,5 cups sugar, quarter cup water, 2 cups tightly packed
young stems and leaves of lemon balm, 1 liter of vodka or brandy. Pour
sugar in water, bring to a boil and keep on low heat until
the sugar will not completely dissolve. Put the stems and leaves of lemon balm
in a deep glass dish, pour lemon balm with warm syrup, add
alcohol (vodka or brandy). Mix all ingredients thoroughly,
cover and keep in a dry, dark place for at least a month.
Shake occasionally. After the end of the aging period, strain
and bottle. Lemon balm liqueur served with seafood
or poultry, added to sauces for meat. The drink goes well
and with desserts, fruits.
Honey with lemon balm
To get this spicy and fragrant honey, you will need: 1,5 cups
honey, ./. cup chopped fresh lemon balm leaves, firmly
stacked in a cup, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, one strip
lemon peel, 10 allspice seeds, 10 clove buds.
Heat the honey in a water bath, add the ingredients to a dry glass
dishes and pour everything on top with not very hot melted honey.
Stir well, cover and stand at room temperature
2 days. Then reheat the honey with spices and strain into a separate
jar. You need to store such honey in the refrigerator and use it in
food for 3 weeks.
Melissa wine
Ingredients:
- 1 lemon balm leaves (in an amount equal to a filled two-liter container);
- 2 2 large oranges (you need juice and peel);
- 3 400 g of light raisins;
- 4 1 lemon (juice and peel);
- 5 1 kg of sugar;
- 6 1 teaspoon wine yeast nutritional supplement
- 7 1 teaspoon of tartaric acid;
- 8 1 teaspoon of pectin enzyme
- 9 wine yeast packaging;
- 10 potassium disulfite tablets (as a preservative and antioxidant in the wine making process).
Separate the lemon balm leaves from the stems, rinse in cold water, dry,
put in a clean container and pour 2 liters of boiling water. Add to
one potassium disulfite tablet, cover with a tight-fitting lid
and insist for 2 days.
Drain the resulting liquid into a sterilized wine ladle,
add lemon and orange juice and peel, washed and crushed
raisins, tartaric acid, wine yeast, nutritional supplement and pectin
enzyme. Leave to ferment for 4 days under a tight-fitting
lid, stirring twice a day.
After fermentation, strain into a bottle, add sugar, stir
and keep for at least 3 months. The taste of the wine improves with age
excerpts in six months. Lemon balm wine can be served both as
aperitif and main courses.
In cosmetology
Due to the complex of its properties, including antibacterial,
lemon balm can be effectively used in homemade
cosmetics. Lemon balm leaves are suitable for creating tonics
for face, hair rinses, lotions, ointments, balms
for lips, facial cleansing with a steam bath.
Facial toner with lemon balm
You will need: 225 g of lemon balm distillate, 0,5 teaspoon of glycerin
or liquid honey. Mix everything thoroughly and use for
wiping the face with a cotton pad. Store toner in the refrigerator.
Lip balm with lemon balm
Melt 28 g of beeswax in a ladle, add 1 cup of butter
lemon balm extract. Stir slowly and thoroughly until smooth.
states, pour into small jars. Apply to lips by
necessary.
Other uses
Lemon balm leaves can be used to make many useful things in everyday life.
Scented wax with lemon balm
Heat 10 g of beeswax to a soft plasticine consistency,
combine wax with lemon balm essential oil (10 g), knead well
mass with your hands. Store lemon balm wax in a closed bottle, use
as a natural air fragrance if necessary..
Melissa sleeping pillow
Melissa for insomnia is considered one of the most effective remedies.
It is noteworthy that this fragrant plant returns sleep in the very
literally: using a regular pillow for sleeping. For the manufacture of
take an unusual pillow in equal parts dried lemon balm leaves,
catnip, chamomile, hops and lavender. Mix all herbs gently.
Add 6 clove buds and a chopped teaspoon to the collection
cinnamon sticks. Fill a sachet with a cup of the herbal mixture, and thoroughly
Place the closed sachet in the sleeping pillow. Before use
it is necessary to make sure that there is no allergy to any
from the components of the herbal collection.
Melissa has long been used as a natural repellent. Pounded
lemon balm leaves were rubbed on the skin to scare away insects.
In Great Britain, since the days of Queen Victoria, lemon balm has been used
for wiping furniture, the surface of which becomes after polishing
lemon balm leaves are shiny and smooth.
The room where the sick person is located is useful to handle with
using lemon balm essential oil: dripping a few drops into the aroma lamp
or by spraying water to which essential oil has been added. Such a procedure
kills germs, disinfects the air..
We have collected the most important points about the benefits and possible dangers of lemon balm
in this illustration and we will be very grateful if you share
a picture on social networks, with a link to our page:
It is a perennial herb representing the family Lamiaceae
(Lipoids).
Popularly, this is a popular essential oil plant.
called lemon mint, lemongrass, bee, honey,
swarm… The official name of the genus in Latin is “Melissa“
– is a borrowing from the Greek language and is translated as
«bee».
Melissa officinalis is a perennial herb, from 30-50 cm high to
1,2-1,5 m. Rhizome branched, plant stem straight, tetrahedral,
with numerous branches, pubescent with glandular hairs.
The leaf arrangement is opposite. The leaves of the lower tier are heart-ovate,
on long petioles; leaves of the middle tier – dentate and oblong,
smaller than the lower ones, on short petioles; upper leaves without petiole,
pubescent on both sides, gray-green below, dark green above
colors. Small white or pinkish flowers are collected in a false whorl.
The fruits are nuts. Lemon balm flowering period – July – September.
In the natural environment, the plant can be found among shrubs, on
forest edges, near weedy places. Along with this, lemon balm is cultivated
human on a variety of objects: from a botanical garden to beekeeping
farms and scientific stations..
Melissa grows well in higher elevations, which are characterized by
sufficient illumination and inaccessibility to northern winds. Cultivation
successful on loose soils, generously flavored with humus. Loamy fit,
sandy loam soil. Lemon balm badly tolerates, acidified
and clayey soil.
Lemon balm breeding methods: seminal и vegetative
(by dividing the bush, etc.). Seeds are sown in soil, loosened to
depth of 0,3 m. The grown crops must be thinned out. Recommended
the distance between rows is 0,6 m, and between individual bushes it should
be about 0,3 m.
Melissa is also propagated by dividing bushes that are at least
2 or 3 years old, or by cuttings. The last method is very convenient for
areas of the first year, since they are abundantly covered with creeping
stems of lemon balm. But such a transplant is recommended as
it is possible less often, so that by the end of the warm summer period the plant has time
take root well and is not affected by the cold in winter.
Lemon balm crops must be thoroughly cleaned of weeds and loosened
aisles. During the growing season, organic
and mineral fertilizers (phosphorus, potassium). Term of fruitful operation
area for lemon balm for about 5-6 years, subject to proper care
for plants..
Leaves and apical shoots of lemon balm begin to be harvested shortly
before the flowering of the plant or at the very beginning. It is better to collect raw materials
in calm and sunny times. If lemon balm is harvested in two stages,
the break between the first and second collection must be at least
months. Dry the grass in the shade outdoors, in a ventilated attic
or in a dryer. The finished raw materials are stored in well-ventilated and dry
premises. The shelf life of lemon balm is one year..
How to grow lemon balm at home? In the summer, it is most practical to grow
lemon balm on the balcony, where there is a lot of sunlight and no drafts.
Seeds germinate at positive temperatures (about 10 degrees),
an adult plant feels best at 20-25 degrees.
In spring and summer, it is more convenient to keep lemon balm on the balcony, and with the beginning of autumn
bring it into the room.
For planting indoors, a grown young bush with developed
shoots. The diameter of the pot must be at least 0,2 m. If
the pot is larger, it needs to be filled one quarter with crushed brick
or small stones. Pot height requirements: main part
the root system of lemon balm reaches a depth of 0,2 m, and if the pot
much higher, the surplus of earth masses during watering will acidify,
which negatively affects the plant. Top dressing of lemon balm with a mixture
fertilizers are recommended to be done once a month, intensively fertilize the soil
in a pot is also necessary in the spring, and in the fall should be suspended
the use of fertilizers.
Watering daily in summer, in the cold season – once every 3 days. To water
it is necessary in such a way that the water protrudes onto the pan. This water is needed
drain, since lemon balm does not tolerate stagnant water (as well as
overdried soil).
In winter, it is recommended to pluck individual leaves from the bush.
and even small stems.
The seeds begin to ripen on the lower inflorescences, they are harvested by hand,
shaking off into a box or bag. Seed collection is repeated
as the fruits ripen on whorls..
