Melissa

Melissa officinalis L. – Melissa
Lamiaceae (Labiatae) – Mint family

The raw material is the melissa leaf and the leafy shoot tip, harvested from non-flowering plants, dried quickly in the shade, in max. 35° C.

Melissa – appearance and origin:

Melissa originates from the Mediterranean and is currently grown in many countries around the world. It grows up to 100 cm, has greyish hairs, a strong, pleasant lemon aroma. The leaves have petioles, are heart-shaped and ovate, with thick serrations. The flowers are whiteish or pinkish, up to 15 mm long, clustered into psuedowhorls in leaf angles.

Melissa – effects and use:

The melissa leaf or herb is essentially an oil source, although it also contains other active substances. These include polyphenols, mainly phenolic acids and their derivatives, flavonoids and essential oil with nerol (citral B), geraniol (citral A), citronellal, linalool and the distinctive β-caryophyllene. The raw material contains triterpenes and potentially other important compounds with unknown activity.

The melissa essential oil acts as a spasmolytic, has a sedative effect on the nervous system, and also bacteriostatic and virostatic activity. The polyphenolic compounds of melissa include rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid and ester bonds between the two, which exhibit virostatic activity, especially regarding the herpes virus. They are also cholagogics and stimulate gastric juice secretion. Recently, an immunomodulatory effect of melissa leaf extracts has also been observed.

Melissa is also used for nervous hyperactivity with difficulties in falling asleep and sleep disorders, for cardiac neurosis, migraines and stress-related digestive disorders.

Melissa – activity:

Sedative and hypnotic

Melissa has been used for ages for relieving tension, irritability and restlessness and for difficulties in falling asleep.
For a long time, the sedative effect was attributed to the essential oil, though such activity was clearly exhibited by the freeze dried hydroalcoholic extract (10%) of the melissa leaf. In 4-week a multicenter clinical trial on elderly people with dementia and excitability, the melissa oil had a clearly sedative effect. The patients were divided into two groups of 36 and took either melissa oil or placebo in a form of a lotion which was rubbed into both arms and face. After 4 weeks of treatment, a reduction of excitability by 30% in 60% of treatment group and 14% of the placebo group was observed. Quality of life also improved, as the patients spent more time with others and on constructive activities. It is possible that the oil ingredients and hydrophilic compounds contribute to the sedative effect of melissa.

Antispasmodic

Melissa is used for treating digestive disorders due to its spasmolytic activity and stimulation of gastric juice secretion. The relaxant effect, determined by melissa oil and its ingredients, was observed in many experimental models.

Antiviral

Aqueous extracts of melissa were found to contain, apart from tannins, other antiviral substances: phenolic acids. Their counteraction of Herpes and Vaccinia is related to the activity of the phenolic acids and their derivatives, which interact with virus proteins. It was also found that melissa oil has an antiviral effect, as it inhibits the replication of type 2 Herpes simplex viruses in a cell culture. Two clinical trials observed efficacy of the melissa leaf extract in treating symptoms of Herpes simplex and Herpes simplex labialis. Treatment resulted in the reduction of herpes sores after just 2 days and significantly shortened the recovery period. The efficacy was found to be dependent on beginning treatment early into the infection.

Antibacterial

Melissa leaf oil and methanol extracts have antibacterial activity, inhibiting the growht of pathogenic bacteria strains. Comparing the inhibitory activity towards bacteria, fungi and yeast of three oils from the Labiateaefamily, it was found that all substances were effective towards all strains, but the strongest was the melissa oil. In studies on herbal extracts used in folk medicine for treating digestive diseases against 15 Helicobacter pyloristrains, the methanol melissa leaf extract was found to have a moderate effect, inhibiting bacteria growth at 100 µg/ml.

Lipid metabolism

Studies performed on rats observed that the melissa aqueous extract reduced high cholesterol and lipid levels, alanine and asparagine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase in blood serum and lipid peroxidation level in liver tissue. It also increased the glutathione level. The melissa extract reversed the degenerative lesions in liver tissue.

Antioxidative

The antioxidative properties of the melissa leaf are determined by the significant content of polyphenols and essential oil. Compared to the antioxidative activity of 21 herbal aqueous extracts used in treatment of inflammation in Bulgarian folk medicine and the polyphenol content, the melissa leaf extract was highly antioxidative TEAC – 4.06 mM, higher than yerba mate and similar to green tea.
In studies of the kinetics of sunflower oil peroxidation in the presence of hexane, ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts of four species from the family Lamiaceae, the melissa ethanol extract strongly inhibited sunflower oil oxidation processes.

Antithyroid

Melissae folium is used in folk medicine for treating hyperthyroidism, or Graves' disease. The melissa leaf is considered a natural medicine that influences the function of the thyroid and thyroid hormones. Melissa officinalis in in vivo and in vitro studies exhibited the ability to inhibit the thyroid cell response to TSH. The melissa leaf aqueous extract was found to be a strong inhibitor of cAMP production and activity which is induced by TSH. The melissa extract ingredients blocked the binding of TSH with the receptor by influencing both and preventing the induction of cAMP production.