Passion flower extract 20% | Passiflora Incarnata

Passion flower extract 20% | Passiflora Incarnata

Properties: Maypop’s latin name – Passiflora incarnata – sounds rather nasty. It is called a passion flower thanks to New World missionaries who tried to see it as a symbol of Christ’s suffering. How they came up with such an association remains unclear. Especially, since in reality this name has nothing to do with the plant. Maypop has beautiful flowers, tasty fruits, and healthy properties. Encounters with this plant can have many scenarios, but definitely none of them has anything to do with suffering. 

Botanists and herbalists have known about the toning and calming properties of passiflora for ages. Modern clinical research confirmed that the administration of maypop extract makes falling asleep easier and significantly improves the sleep quality. This is especially important nowadays, as it is more and more common that the duration of the nocturnal rest shortens in favor of catching up with work. Even 20-30 extra minutes in the land of Nod can make the performance in the next day way better. Maypop extract helps to fall asleep, nonetheless it does not work like a standard sleeping pill found in any drugstore. In contrast, it normalizes the levels of neurotransmitters that are responsible for winding down and maintaining a high mood. Thus, it also influences our functioning during the day. First of all, maypop supplementation increases the activity of GABA neurotransmitter, which is responsible for our ability to relax and respond to stressful events properly. Secondly, it inhibits the decomposition of two other neurotransmitters – dopamine and serotonin. Their optimal density directly correlates with our mood and vital energy. Bringing it all together, the regular supplementation of maypop makes us more motivated during the whole day and helps us to remain focused on the things that make us happy rather than sad. After such a day, sleep simply comes around easier. Nevertheless, even a single dose will keep the evening insomnia at bay – even after stressful events.  

Maypop has one more interesting effect, which relates to our sexual life. As it turns out, maypop supplementation increases the testosterone level that in both genders is responsible mainly for the sexual drive, and in males also for sexual performance. In sum, it is hard to find any maypop effect that relates to suffering. Maybe it is time to rename it?

Occurrence: Maypop (Passiflora incarnata) is a perennial bush that belongs to the genus Passiflora (Passifloraceae). This plant is native to both Americas, whereas in Europe it can be found in glasshouses and botanical gardens. It can grow as high as 10 meters and has three-lobed leaves. Their ends have sticky whiskers, thanks to which it can climb trees. The passion fruit is characterized by large, fragrant flowers with a diameter of approx. 5 cm. Interestingly, each winter the maypop plant dies to be reborn in the spring and sprout again.

Native American tribes of both Americas have used maypop in their folk medicine for centuries. It was mostly applied as a painkiller and to reduce inflammation. The Cherokee tribe has boiled tea with maypop to relieve the liver aches. The folk medicine of European immigrants who settled in Carolina (southern part of the Appalachian region) has had yet another way to exploit the beneficial properties of this plant. The settlers used tinctures from its leaves for their calming effects – particularly in order to ease the insomnia, suppress hysteria, and reduce the strength of epileptic attacks. These maypop’s properties were described by the German botanist Shoeph in his scripture “Materia medica Americana potissimum regni vegetabilis” written in 1787. This book is one of the earliest encyclopedias of American medicinal plants. Maypop was brought to Europe in the 18th century and ever since has been commonly used in folk medicine. It has been included in the “European Pharmacopoeia” and has the status of a herbal medicine.

Biochemistry: Maypop owes its beneficial properties mostly to flavonoids, especially benzoflavone and chrysin. Other attractive compounds are flavonoid C-glycosides, i.e. vitexin, isovitexin, orientin and isoorientin. Apart from them, this plant also contains indole alkaloids (harmine, harmol and harman). Their concentration varies depending on the location. The essential oil responsible for its characteristic smell is a combination of as many as 150 different ingredients.

Fun fact: Maypop fruits are edible. They are greenish-yellow in color and about as big as a chicken egg. For centuries these juicy and sweet berries have been joyously consumed by native tribes of Southern America. Their seeds were found in archeological sites of Algonquin people in Virginia. They used maypop fruits to prepare both meals and drinks.