Passionsblume (Passiflora): Inhaltsstoffe, Geschichte und Verwendung

Passionflower (Passiflora): Ingredients, History, and Uses

March 1, 2019 mo nika

This article is part of our comprehensive Pine Pollen overview – Passiflora is one of the plants we combine with Pine Pollen in Pino Gordo. Learn more in Passiflora and Chrysin: Why They Are Included in Pino Gordo.

About the plant

The passionflower belongs to the passionflower family, Passifloraceae. It is originally native to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, Asia, and Australia; it is now represented worldwide by more than 530 species and can be found in all tropical and subtropical regions. [1, 5, 15, 23, 24]

It is an evergreen, perennial, woody, bush-forming climbing plant whose fruit is a berry. Its species diversity encompasses a varied appearance, adaptation to different climatic and geological conditions, and differing compositions and quantities of constituents. [5, 15, 24]

Because the structure of the flower symbolically recalls the Passion of Christ^[1], missionaries used it to convert Indigenous peoples. It also inspired the plant’s name. Passio means suffering in Latin, flos means flower, and incarnata means incarnate. Maracuja comes from Portuguese, is borrowed from the Indigenous South American Tupi language, and means Mara, food, and Cuja, vessel. [5, 7, 10, 23, 24]

The passionflower was officially recorded as a medicinal plant in 1569 by Nicolás Bautista Monardes (1439–1588), a Spanish physician and botanist, and initially reached Europe as an ornamental plant around 1600. In 1840, it was introduced into medical practice in America, listed in the German Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia in 1901, and began receiving official attention in phytotherapy from 1950 onward. [5, 10, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24]

Constituents and uses

Today, looking back on more than 100 years of research into Passiflora incarnata, the passionflower’s potential has been investigated, at least in mice or in vitro, for its neuronal sedative, aphrodisiac, and sexual-organ function-enhancing effects, as well as its anxiolytic, analgesic, anti-addictive, and antispasmodic properties, among others. Nevertheless, its constituents have not yet been fully identified, nor are the internal active synergies within the individual parts of the plant completely understood. In addition, the quantities of constituents vary even within a single plant species, which is why the treatment of complaints is largely based on knowledge and practical experience from traditional herbal medicine. [1, 2, 16, 24]

The passion flower is known for its fruit, the passion fruit. The violet-brown fruit of Passiflora edulis is primarily used for consumption, while the larger yellow fruit of Passiflora flavicarpa is mainly used for juice and its characteristic aroma. [3, 24]

Ripe passion fruit (<em>Passiflora edulis</em>) on the vine Sliced passion fruit with pulp and seeds

The juice of Passiflora edulis contains various sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose) and organic acids (citric and malic acid) at approximately 30–50 mg/100 ml; it is rich in vitamin A, at approximately 700 I.U., and vitamin C, at approximately 30–50 mg/100 ml. In South America, freshly pressed juice is administered to hyperactive children to calm them and is traditionally used as a heart tonic. [3, 8, 15, 16, 24, 43]

The juice’s calming effect may be attributable to its niacin content of 1.5 mg/100 ml (edulis), beta-carotene content of 1.106% (edulis) and 0.058% (flavicarpa), riboflavin content of 0.13 mg/100 ml (edulis), and low alkaloid content of approximately 0.012% (edulis) and 0.7% (flavicarpa).
Other traditional uses include inflammatory conditions, such as respiratory tract disorders including asthma, severe coughs, and urinary tract infections. In Madeira, the juice is also used as a digestive and to treat stomach cancer—a traditional home remedy for which there is no scientific evidence of efficacy. [8, 15]

The amino acids contained in the fruit juice (arginine, aspartic acid, glycine, leucine, lysine, proline, threonine, tyrosine, valine) have, among other effects, immunomodulatory, restorative, vascular-protective, cholesterol-balancing, and blood-pressure-lowering properties, and therefore have a positive influence on the biosynthesis of various hormones and their precursors. [8, 23.1, 38]

The seeds of passion fruit contain 8.9% saturated and 84% unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid at 19%, palmitic acid at 6.78%, and the essential linoleic acid at 59.9%. Linoleic acid is a doubly unsaturated omega-6 fatty acid that is beneficial, among other things, for the skin and its appearance. The oil from the seeds is used primarily for cosmetic purposes. [3, 8, 35]

The leaves folia passiflorae and the herb herba passiflorae of the Passiflora incarnata, less commonly that of Passiflora edulis are used in phytotherapy as a dried drug (tea/infusion, capsule) or as an alcoholic extract (tincture/extract). [8,15]

Typical of passionflower are the alkaloids from the harman group, such as harman, harmine, harmaline, and harmalol. In the literature, they are also referred to as passiflorine. The dried parts of the herb of Passiflora incarnata contain a comparatively very low level of 0.02–0.1% harman alkaloids, which may have antispasmodic, analgesic, and calming effects and may be partly responsible for lowering high blood pressure. [15, 17]

The effect of the harman alkaloids in passionflower is comparable to that of benzodiazepines (Diazepam)-comparable. However, since they are not addictive, passionflower is used to support withdrawal and to treat addiction and withdrawal symptoms caused by morphine, nicotine, and alcohol. Its use for high blood pressure, depression, insomnia, epilepsy, and anxiety may be based on the same connection. [2, 6, 11, 15]

In addition to the flavonoids apigenin, vitexin, and luteolin, which have anti-inflammatory properties, among others, and produce positive effects in cases of high blood pressure, headaches, and cramps, as well as when used as an aphrodisiac and expectorant, the flavonoid aglycone chrysin 5,7-dihydroflavone, which is typical of passionflower, is also present. [2, 11, 18]

Chrysin has the properties of a phytohormone because it acts on aromatase. Aromatase is the enzyme CYP 19A1, which catalyzes the biosynthesis of estrogen in the human body. If the activity of the aromatase enzyme is inhibited, the androgens are preserved, and estrogen production is restricted to the gonads. The plant constituent chrysin therefore helps the body use androgens effectively by inhibiting their conversion into estrogen.
In connection with male climacteric, menopause, and some other conditions associated with an imbalance of sex hormones or with estrogen excess or dependence, chrysin may be useful as a therapeutic agent. Since chrysin also appears to affect the enzyme COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2 / prostaglandin synthase-2), it may have potential for treating endometriosis. [4.1, 4.2, 14.1-14.8, 18, 27]

Another notable property of chrysin is its calming, antispasmodic, and anxiolytic effect, which is why, like the harman alkaloids, it is said to reduce nervous restlessness, tension, difficulty falling asleep, and stress, and to support the treatment of addiction or withdrawal problems. [2, 14.9, 15, 19]

Furthermore, studies and traditional accounts associate chrysin with a range of additional properties—oneirogenic, anticarcinogenic, chemoprotective, immunoregulatory, cardioprotective, beneficial to blood vessels, for example in arteriosclerosis, and counteracting physiological and biochemical aging processes—if indications from studies and traditional accounts are to be believed. [2, 4.1, 4.2, 12, 14, 14.3, 14.9, 20, 21, 24, 25]

• The information and details collected in this text have been researched to the best of our knowledge and belief, but are unsuitable for drawing independent diagnoses and treatments.

[1] Jesuit Ferrari, 1633 in "De florum cultura": three stigmas = nails, ring of filaments = crown of thorns, stalked ovary = chalice, five anthers = wounds, foliage leaves = lance, tendrils = scourges, white color = the Savior's innocence [5, 7]

Sources

1 http://www.biologie-seite.de/Biologie/Passionsblumen

2 http://www.biologie-seite.de/Biologie/Passiflora_incarnata

3 http://www.biologie-seite.de/Biologie/Passiflora_edulis

4.1 http://www.hpbrasch.de/2013/08/aromatasehemmer-krebs-
pflanzen-heilkunde-inhaltsstoffe-phytotherapie/

4.2 http://www.hpbrasch.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/PDF-
Phytotherapeutika-und-Hormonmodulation-G.Brasch.pdf

5 http://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/madaus/passiflora.html

6 http://journals.lww.com/anesthesia-analgesia/pages/articleviewer.aspx
year=2008&issue=06000&article=00019&type=Fulltext

7 http://www.forum-kirchenpaedagogik.de/blog/?p=478

8 https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/passionfruit.html#Food%20Uses

9 http://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/index.php?id=titel_31_2000

10 https://books.google.es/books?id=-DRACwAAQBAJ&pg=
PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=Dr.+L.+Phares,+Mississippi+1867&
source=bl&ots=VA8nvm8r6T&sig=0VSQmq7WrncVt9W3ePdx_
5QxV9Y&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8i-
CYhN7UAhVG1RoKHbPxA_gQ6AEILTAA#v=onepage&q=Dr.%20L.
%20Phares%2C%20Mississippi%201867&f=false