Updated 31 January 2024
Botanical characteristics
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- Order: Lamiales
- Family: Lamiaceae
- Genus: Melissa
- Distilled part: Leaves and aerial parts (fresh)
- Country of origin: Europe, Balkans
Authorised users
It is not recommended that lemongrass/melissa hydrolate be used for prolonged periods by people suffering from low blood pressure.
Routes of administration
- Oral route: +++
- Skin: +++
Scientific properties
- Digestive tonic, antispasmodic, cholagogue, antinausea
- Anti-infective, antiviral, immunostimulant
- Analgesic, anti-inflammatory
- Hypotensive
Energy properties
- Calming, sedative, relieves stress, anxiety, insomnia, nervousness, anger, hyperactivity.
- Helps relax the body and mind
- Reputed to promote longevity
Indications
- Digestive disorders
- Indigestion
- Intestinal cramps
- Colitis
- Crohn's disease
- Dysmenorrhoea
- Symptoms associated with the menopause
- Headaches
- Migraine
- Neuralgia
- Nausea (particularly related to pregnancy)
- Vomiting
- Prevention of winter infections, flu
- Shingles
- Herpes
- Eczema
- Irritated skin
- Palpitations
- Hypertension
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Oily skin
- Sensitive skin
Directions for use/usual dosage
- For anxiety, nervousness or hyperactivity, add this hydrosol to bath water, especially for babies, or add a teaspoon of hydrosol to a baby's bottle or a cup of hot water.
- For nausea, take a teaspoon of this hydrosol directly under the tongue and repeat as needed.
- For stomach cramps, add 1 teaspoon to a cup of hot water, several times a day.
Precautions for use/contraindications
- None known
Cosmetic
- Soothing, softening
- Antioxidant
- Healing, tonic
- Antiseptic, anti-inflammatory
- Dry, sensitive, irritated, mature, wrinkled skin
- Itching, rashes, eczema, cradle cap, baby nappy rash
- Irritated eyes, conjunctivitis
Cooking
- This hydrosol is particularly popular in the kitchen with its slightly lemony, sweet, honeyed flavour. It is ideal for flavouring desserts, puddings, sorbets and fruit salads. It can be added to drinking water to add flavour, or to herbal teas to add a pleasant taste. It can also be added to tabbouleh, vegetable dishes and fish.
Interior use
- This hydrosol is pleasant to diffuse to lightly perfume the atmosphere.
Additional information
Habitat and botanical description
Lemon balm is a perennial plant that can live for up to thirty years. It grows from 30 to 80 cm and can reach 1 m in height. Its branched, hairy, square stems are erect and divided into several secondary stems. It has small, oval, opposite leaves, which are long-stemmed, toothed and with a serrated edge. Its white, two-lobed flowers (10-12 mm) appear from June to September, grouped in whorls at the base of the leaves. The calyx is bell-shaped. Its lemon scent is produced by its secretory epidermal hairs (the secreted essence is deposited between the cellulose wall and the cuticle, which then peels off).
Mythology / History / Anecdotes and traditional virtues
Lemon balm was known and mentioned in ancient times, particularly by the ancient Greeks. Lemon balm flowers were indicated by doctors of the time for the relief of nervous system disorders. Avicenna or Ibn, medieval Persian philosopher, writer, physician and scientist (10th century) said that it "makes the heart happy and strengthens the vital spirits". Arab physicians of the time used it for its antispasmodic properties, as a heart tonic and to invigorate patients whose spirits were low. In the late Middle Ages, it appeared in the French pharmacopoeia in the form of elixirs and liqueurs produced in monasteries by Benedictine nuns and monks. Chartreuse and Eau de mélisse des Carmes (an alcoholic compound of lemon balm created in 1611 by Carmelite monks from fresh lemon balm leaves) are still known and produced today. It is also used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine as a plant with a pungent, sweet and refreshing character.