Passionflower

What is it

Passionflower (scientific name Passiflora incarnata) is a climbing plant cultivated in many countries with a warm temperate climate.

Known in Italian as “blue passion flower”, because of its most widespread species in the Bel Paese (passiflora caerulea), this plant was imported from the new world in the early ‘600 as an ornamental plant.

Since then, it continues to be widely cultivated in southern and Atlantic Europe, so much so that it is not uncommon to see it peeping out from the walls of houses, among the vegetation of some garden or inside green greenhouses.

Passionflower prefers warm, bright environments, with high humidity in the air, so it blooms during the hot season, in the months of July and August.

Its flowering ends are used in traditional medicine to prepare infusions with a mild anxiolytic and sedative effect.

The extract obtained from its aerial parts, also present in numerous medicinal specialties, is used for its calming and antispasmodic effects.

What it looks like

Passionflower is a climbing perennial herbaceous plant, which can reach up to six meters in height.

The stem is abundantly ramified, thin and is green in the young specimens, to be covered later with bark, and its leaves are persistent or semi-persistent.

What distinguishes it, however, is the appearance of its flowers: in fact, this plant produces very particular flowers, which have white petals and sepals with white, blue, purple or lilac filaments, and can reach even 10 cm in diameter.

Another peculiarity of passionflower is its fruit, which in some species is edible.

If the local passiflora caerulea produces orange berries that it is preferable to use for ornamental purposes, the passiflora edulis produces a fruit with an excellent taste, which is called Maracuja.

Also called passion fruit, it is widely used in the kitchen, and especially in pastry, where it is used to season and stuff all sorts of cakes and cakes.

Its origins

It is said that in 1610, in Mexico, the Augustinian missionary Emmanuel de Villegas noticed a fruit plant that the natives called granadilla, already cultivated at the time of the Incas and the Aztecs for food purposes for its tasty fruits.

The friar was struck by the flowers that, in his opinion, evoked the passion of Jesus Christ: it seemed to him, in fact, that the tendrils reproduced the scourge, the three styles that surmount the flower the nails, the stamens the cloak, while the corolla below the crown of thorns.

And so, when he returned to Spain he showed them to the Jesuit Giacomo Bosio who, fascinated, wrote about them in his “Treatise on the Crucifixion of Our Lord”, calling it “incarnate passion”.

It was therefore the great Swedish botanist, Carl Linnaeus, to give authority to the fruit, inserting it in the botanical treatise with the name “Passiflora incarnata”, obtained from the fusion of the Latin nouns “passio” (passion) and “flos” (flower), which the plant still maintains, with the addition of the adjective attributed to it by the Spaniards.

Activity

During the First World War, passionflower was administered to soldiers as a natural relaxing treatment to counteract states of anguish thanks to the numerous flavonoids (such as hyperoside and vitexin) it contains, some of which bind to brain receptors for benzodiazepines, drugs known for their anxiolytic and sedative activity.

It is also rich in benzoflavones, glucosides, indole alkaloids and essential oil.

Together, all these substances give passionflower a calming action on the central nervous system, especially on the motor zone of the spinal cord and sleep centers.

There are several medicinal plants with anxiolytic activity: tilia tomentosa (linden), lemon balm, escolzia and chamomile, just to name a few of the best known. Find out what they are and learn about their relaxing properties by reading this article Green care for the mind.

It also acts on the smooth muscles present in the human body at the level of internal organs and hollows, such as the stomach, intestines and bronchioles, that is, the small terminal branches of the bronchi within the lungs.

Passionflower extract, which also contains alkaloids such as passionflowerin, phenolic acids, coumarins, phytosterols and other active compounds is much more effective than isolated active ingredients.

Why is it used

Passionflower is mainly used for its sedative activity as a natural remedy for insomnia due to fatigue, stress, depression and cerebral arousal (for example in case of intense study).

It induces a sleep similar to the physiological one, without causing either lightheadedness upon waking up or addiction.

It is useful for controlling anxiety disorders, the sense of anguish and states of nervous excitement. As regards the latter in particular, it is recommended in the case of tachycardia caused by nervousness and has beneficial properties in counteracting gastralgia, that is, deep visceral pains of gastric origin, often accompanied by cramps.

It also has sedative properties in the case of menstrual pain, especially if accompanied by cramps, and is effective for women who after the age of 50, with the cessation of ovarian activity, begin to suffer from the disorders characteristic of the first phase of menopause, such as insomnia, anxiety and hot flashes.

Ideal against gastrointestinal discomfort, also thanks to its antispasmodic activity on smooth muscles, passionflower reduces gastric spasms and irritable bowel syndrome disorders, when they are of nervous origin, and has an antacid effect.

It can delay, but not prevent, asthmatic crises by protecting against bronchospasm and is effective in the case of dry cough of nervous origin.

Finally, passionflower can be useful in case of hemorrhoids, burns and swelling due to inflammation.

How to use it

The daily dose is 6-8 mg of nebulized dry extract and titrated in hyperoside (minimum 0.3%) per kilo of body weight, to be taken divided into two or three administrations, one of which in the evening, just before going to sleep.

It can be taken in the form of herbal tea, in case of insomnia. In a cup of boiling water infuse for 10 minutes a tablespoon of leaves and flowers of Passionflower. Strain, sweeten with honey and sip. The infusion should be drunk one hour before bedtime.

Passionflower is also available in tablets, to be taken with a little water and on a full stomach. There is also a formulation called mother tincture (available in herbal medicine) and in this case it should be taken in drops at the suggested dosage and diluted in a little water.

The mother tincture, which is shown on the label with the initials TM, is a hydroalcoholic extraction obtained by cold maceration of the commonly used parts of the medicinal plant, in a solution of water and alcohol. It is prepared in special laboratories and preserves the same activities as the original plant.

Passionflower is also available for topical use to be applied topically in case of hemorrhoids to reduce the state of inflammation and itching.

It does not exist in the form of essential oils.

Effects

Passionflower is generally considered a plant with few serious or proven side effects. It induces physiological sleep without causing drowsiness during the day, has no narcotic effects and is not addictive.

Among the possible side effects of taking passionflower there may be dizziness, confusion, difficulty in coordination and movement, altered state of consciousness, nausea, vomiting, excessive drowsiness, tachycardia and arrhythmias.

There is not enough information to classify the safe level of use of topical passionflower.

Precautions

It is not recommended during pregnancy because passionflower contains alkaloids, chemical compounds concentrated especially in seeds, leaves and rhizomes. These substances have the ability to stimulate uterine contractions with an increased risk of premature birth.

The same contents make this medicinal plant contraindicated even during breastfeeding. There are no minimum amounts: whatever dosage is taken, passionflower can be absorbed with breast milk.

Not good for children, at least until 12 years of age.

In addition, it should be stopped at least two weeks before surgery because it can increase the effect of anesthetics and other drugs that act in the brain.

Interactions

Before taking any preparation containing passionflower, it is advisable to talk to your doctor as it can interact with other medicinal plants and with different drugs such as:

• with barbiturates, sedatives and some antidepressants, increasing the sedative effect and prolonging the duration of sleep;
• with coumarin anticoagulants, because the coumarins contained in passionflower could increase its effect and induce bleeding;
• with herbal medicines with a sedative effect such as valerian, lemon balm or St. John’s wort, also called St. John’s wort; In this case it can cause hypersomnia instead of the desired effect.

It also does not go well with herbal medicines such as hawthorn and supplements such as coenzyme Q10 and fish oil, which can lower blood pressure.

Even the combination of herbal teas and passionflower coffee can be counterproductive: in fact, passionflower can raise blood pressure if taken together with caffeine.

Finally, passionflower cannot be taken in conjunction with alcoholic beverages, since alcohol can alter its effectiveness.

Where to grow passionflower

Passiflora incarnata is part of the plant family called Passifloraceae. It is an ornamental climbing plant native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Central and South America. Some species also come from North America and others from Asia and Australia. It is also cultivated in many countries with a temperate-warm climate, including Italy.

In our country it is more suitable in the central-southern regions, because they have a climate with temperate temperatures even in winter. No ban on cultivation in the regions of Northern Italy, but it is good to choose a very sunny location even in winter and sheltered from cold winds. Usually the variety called cerulean is preferred, which lends itself well to cultivation in open spaces, such as gardens and vegetable gardens, while it is not recommended for balconies and small terraces, because it is a “bulky” climbing plant. The climbing plants reach a height of 4-5 meters, sometimes even seven, and produce very beautiful flowers, of a variegated color that can vary from white, pink, blue, red and in some species even bronze-purple. Finally, there are edible yellow-orange fruits, called “passion fruits”.