Gen
info
Earliest reference to
the plant goes back to the seventh century. Its camphorlike odor found
utility as a cleansing herb, and as an odor-eater was strewn in sickrooms
and kitchen floors.
Botany
A strongly aromatic perennial
belonging to the mint family, upright and with many branched square
stems. Leaves are opposite, linear to lanceolate, hairless, long and
sessile, 1 - 1 1/2 inches long. Flowers are in whorls with a tubular
corolla, two-lipped, blue or violet in color, with bell-shaped calyxes.
Constituents
and chemical properties
The volatile oil is a
key ingredient to some liquers.
The aromatic volatile oil is found in its leaves, stems, and flowers.
Considered antiseptic, astringent, carminative, emmenagogue, expectorant,
purgative, stomachic.
Antibacterial property attributed to volatile oils.
Distribution
Cultivated as ornamental
and herbal plant.
Occasionally grown as ground cover.
Parts utilized
and collection
Flowers, leaves.
Cut the stems before the flowers open, hang the bunches upside down
in a warm and dark place.
Caution
Shares a common name with
Artmesia vulagris.
Cross-allergenicity in those sensitive to plants in the Asteraceae/Compositae
family; ie, ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds and daisies.
Uses
Culinary
Leaves and flowers are
edible.
It's minty leaves and flowers used as flavoring for salads, soups, and
poultry stuffing.
Although too pungent for most palates, it has been used for herbal wines.
Folkloric
Tincture and tea of the
flower used to cure jaundice and dropsy.
Helps improve stomach tone.
Crushed leaves or poultice of ground leaves promotes healing of wounds
and bruises.
Hot vapors of its decoctions for inflammation of the ears.
Infusion or decoction used for wound cleansing.
Decoction of flowers used as expectorant.
Used for liver and gall bladder complaints.
As gargle and expectorant for colds and respiratory ailments.
Infusion of leaves used externally for rheumatism.
Others
Flowers and leaves used
for herbal baths.
Aromatic oil used in perfumes and potpourris.
Bees, birds and butterflies are attracted to its flowers.
Studies
• Antifungal:
ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF ESSENITAL
OIL HYSSOPUS OFFICINALIS L. AGAINST MYCOPATHOGEN MYCOGONE PERNICIOSA
(MANG): In the study, the
essential oil of HO showed a very strong antifungal activity. The most
abundant components in oil are isopinocamphone (43%), pinocamphoe (16%)
and b-pinene (16%). The essential oil was fungistatic on Aspergillus
fumigatus. The strong antifungal potential of Hyssop essential oil can
be explained by the high amount of ketons, its main contituents.
• Antimicrobial:
Study yielded pinocamphone and
isopinocamphone. All yeasts were strongly inhibited, seven strains of
C albicans, C krusei and C tropicalis. Limonene may be responsible for
the antimycotic action.
• Diabetes
/ a-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activity: Study
of aqueous methanol extracts of dried hyssop leaves showed (alpha)-glucosidase
inhibitory activity.
• Phenolics
/ Rosmarinic Acid: Transformed
roots induced by infection with Agrobacterium rhizogenes produced high
levels of phenolic compounds such as rosmarinic acid and lithospermic
acid. B.
Availability
Cultivated.
Wildcrafted.
Hyssop essential oil in the cybermarket. |
