Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary

M
406 Melissa officinalis Linn.
influenza. The fruit is considered
a brain tonic and useful in
hypochondriac conditions.
The aerial parts of the plant yield 2%
essential oil which is a good source of
monoterpenic alcohols and aldehydes.
It contains d-camphene 2.5, dl-alphapinene
2.3, 1-beta-pinene 2.13, deltacarene
2.05, d-limonene 12.95, azulene
1.26, linalool 13.36, 1,8-cineole 9.33, citronellal
4.0, citronellol 8.2, citral 13.0,
geraniol 21.01, neptalactone 1.91, thymol
4.0 and citronellic acid 2.0%.
The herb is used as a substitute for
Melissa officinalis Linn.
Melissa officinalis Linn.
Family ◮ Lamiaceae.
Habitat ◮ Indigenous to the east
Mediterranean region; introduced
in India.
English ◮ Mountain Balm, Sweet or
Lemon Balm.
Unani ◮ Baadranjboyaa, Billilotan.
(Nepeta cataria Linn. and Nepeta
hindostana Haines are also known
as Billilotan.)
Action ◮ Antidepressant, antispasmodic,
antihistaminic, antiviral.
Used in anxiety neurosis and nervous
excitability, palpitation and
headache. Also in hyperthyroidism.
Key application ◮ In nervous sleeping
disorders and functional gastrointestinal
complaints. (German
Commission E, ESCOP.) Externally
for Herpes labialis (cold sores).
(ESCOP.) As sedative and topi-
cal antiviral. (The British Herbal
Pharmacopoeia.)
Only fresh (herb within 6 months
after collection) is usable as a sedative,
because of low volatile oil content and
its high volatility.
The volatile oil of the herb (0.1–
00.2%) consists mainly of geranial
and neral, with caryophyllene oxide
and smaller quantities of terpenes;
glycosides of the alcoholic or phenolic
components of the volatile oil
(including eugenol glucoside); caffeic
acid derivatives (rosmaric acid);
flavonoids (including cymaroside, cosmosiin,
rhamnocitrin, isoquercitrin);
triterpene acids (including ursolic
acid).
Hot water extracts exhibit antiviral
properties, mainly due to rosmaric acid
and other polyphenols. (A cream containing
the extracts of Balm is used
for the treatment of cutaneous lesions
of Herpes simplex virus.) Aqueous extracts
inhibit tumour cell dividing.
Freeze-dried aqueous extracts inhibit
many of the effects of exogenous
and endogenous thyroid stimulating
hormones (TSH) on bovine thyroid
gland by interfering with the binding
of TSH to plasma membranes and by
inhibiting the enzyme iodothyronine
deiodinase in vitro.
The anti-hormonal, mainly antithyroid
effects of Balm are well documented.
(Potter’s New Cyclopedia,
Sharon.M. Herr.)
For mild to moderate Alzheimer disease,
60 drops per day of standardized
Lemon Balm extract (1 : 11 45%
alcohol) was prescribed daily. Results
were encouraging. (J Neurol Neurosurg