A Brief Overview of the Effects of Melissa officinalis L. Extract on the Function of Various Body Organs

Abstract

Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) which belongs to the Lamiaceae family is a known herb that has long been used in traditional medicine to treat many disorders, and several studies have been conducted to identify the plant and its healing properties. The purpose of this article is to review a series of studies on the effects of the herb extract on the function of various body organs. Due to its volatile organic compounds and active constituents such as terpenoids, flavonoids, quercetin, rutin, quercitrin, gallic acid and high antioxidant capacity, the extract of the plant can have a significant role in maintaining health and curing diseases. In this paper data have been collected from books and scientific papers published in the databases like Science Direct, Web Science, Scopus, EBSCO, Iran medex and PubMed. Search in the interval of the years 2006 to 2012 was carried out. To search for the key words Melissa officinalis, lemon balm, and balm mint were used. About 80 articles was reviewed and after rejection non-related or similar items, in the end about 50 the number was actually cited. Results indicate that the extract of the plant with its several antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-pain, anti-spasmodic and anti-cancer properties as well as its cholinergic receptor activation have highly significant effects on improving behavioral symptoms, cognitive impairment, insomnia, anxiety, and stress. However, these studies have been vast and sparse, and doing more focused and extensive researches in this area is recommended.

A Comparative Study of Melissa officinalis Leaves and Stems Ethanolic Extracts in terms of Antioxidant, Cytotoxic, and Antiproliferative Potential

“…M. officinalis has a large use in traditional medicine, food industry, and aromatherapy, due to its fresh smell and its medicinal properties including hypoglycemic, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial, antidepressant, hypnotic, and sedative [ 1 , 11 – 14 ]. In addition, there are studies that pointed out the cytotoxic effect of lemon balm extract on breast cancer [ 13 ] and colon carcinoma [ 15 ]. Chemical composition of lemon balm is diverse and includes phenolic acids, tannins, flavonoids, terpenes (triterpenes, monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes), and volatile compounds.…”

“…Not only does lemon balm have an impressive background from traditional medicine, but, according to the latest studies, it is effective in cardiovascular disease, by decreasing the values of total lipid concentration, improving HDL (high density lipoprotein) values, and lowering the hepatic synthesis of cholesterol [ 13 ].…”

Assessment of Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalisL.) Hydrogels: Quality and Bioactivity in Skin Cells

“…Lemon balm is a natural source of rosmarinic acid (RA). RA is one of the main phenolic acids in the chemical composition of Melissa officinalis L., and it determines the pharmacological effect and the medical use of the plant [ 2 – 5 ]. Current studies have shown that lemon balm preparations have bacteriostatic, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects [ 3 ].…”

Antipyretic, Antiinflammatory and Antinociceptive Activities of Aqueous Bark Extract of Acacia Nilotica (L.) Delile in Albino Mice

“…Similarly, the methanolic leaf extract of Securinega virosa demonstrated related antinociceptive effect in acetic acid induced writhing test and formalin test models [33]. That the aqueous extracts of A. nilotica produced non-dose dependent analgesic activity is related to studies by Zarei et al [34] who observed the antinociceptive activities of Melissa officinalis leaf extracts in laboratory animals. The dose ranges used in this study were within the dose ranges used by Ishola et al [35][36][37].…”