PASSION FLOWER

Plant Source: Passiflora incarnata L. (Family Passifloraceae).

Part Used: Dried flowering and fruiting tops.

Properties: Sedative, antispasmodic, diaphoretic.

Most Common Traditional Uses: Insomnia, nervous anxiety, hysteria, nervous headache, neuralgia, epilepsy.

Native to the United States, passion flower is one of the most well-known Western sedative herbs. It is used in many sedative and sleep-aid products in the Western world, especially in Europe. And most of our production of the herb ends up in Europe where most of the research and use takes place. Although our own FDA does not recognize passion flower as a safe or effective drug, the German health authorities have approved its use for conditions involving nervous unrest.

Despite continued laboratory studies on passion flower, scientists so far have not yet been able to attribute its medicinal properties to any one single chemical component.