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Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Melissa officinalis

Melissa officinalis (Lamiaceae)

Common Names
Balm; Lemonbalm; Melissa; Bee Balm
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe

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View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
EUGENOL 76 Shoot *
EUGENYL-ACETATE 6 Plant Williamson, E. M. and Evans, F. J., Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations, Revised Ed., Saffron Walden, the C. W. Daniel Co., Ltd., Essex UK, 362 pp, 1988, reprint 1989.
EUGENYL-GLUCOSIDE 0 Shoot Bisset, N.G., ed. 1994. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. 566 pp.
FAT 0 Seed 115000.0 -0.79 *
FURFURAL 6 Tissue Culture Gbolade, A.A. and Lockwood, G.B. 1991. The Constituents of Melissa officinalis L. Cultures. J. Ess. Oil Res., 3: 111-114.
GAMMA-CADINENE 0 Shoot 1.0 25.0 -0.18 Deutsche Apot. Ziit. 129(4):155-163. W. Schulze et al. Die Melisse.
GERANIAL 13 Shoot 10.0 1425.0 3.11 *
GERANIC-ACID 0 Shoot 0.1 Deutsche Apot. Ziit. 129(4):155-163. W. Schulze et al. Die Melisse.
GERANIOL 35 Shoot 1.0 65.0 -0.47 Deutsche Apot. Ziit. 129(4):155-163. W. Schulze et al. Die Melisse.
GERANYL-ACETATE 5 Shoot 0.3 155.0 -0.19 *
GERMACRA-1-(10)E,5E-DIEN-4-OL 0 Shoot 30.0 230.0 Deutsche Apot. Ziit. 129(4):155-163. W. Schulze et al. Die Melisse.
GERMACRENE-D 2 Shoot 0.0 1080.0 0.23 *
HEXANOIC-ACID 2 Tissue Culture Gbolade, A.A. and Lockwood, G.B. 1991. The Constituents of Melissa officinalis L. Cultures. J. Ess. Oil Res., 3: 111-114.
ISOGERANIAL 0 Shoot 0.4 16.0 *
ISOPULEGOL 3 Shoot 10.0 70.0 2.22 Deutsche Apot. Ziit. 129(4):155-163. W. Schulze et al. Die Melisse.
ISOQUERCITRIN 22 Shoot *
LIMONENE 60 Shoot 0.1 -0.33 Deutsche Apot. Ziit. 129(4):155-163. W. Schulze et al. Die Melisse.
LINALOL 0 Shoot 1.0 16.0 -0.22 Deutsche Apot. Ziit. 129(4):155-163. W. Schulze et al. Die Melisse.
LINALOOL 53 Shoot 1.0 80.0 -0.22 *
LUTEOLIN-7-GLUCOSIDE 7 Shoot *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
ABeta-Inhibitor 1 *
Abortifacient 1 *
Acaricide 6 *
ACE-Inhibitor 3 *
AChE-Inhibitor 1 Grundy, D. L. and Still, C. C., Inhibition of acetylcholinesterases by pulegone-1,2-epoxide, Oest. Biochem. & Physiol., 23, 1985, 383-8.
Acidulant 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Additive 1 Aloe Research Council - Duke writeup of non-peer reviewd book by Coats and draft by Henry
Adenylate-Cyclase-Inhibitor 1 *
Aldose-Reductase-Inhibitor 12 Shimizu, M., Ito, T., Terashima, S., Hayashi, T., Arisawa, M., Morita, N., Kurokawa, S., Ito, K., and Hashimoto, Y. 1984. Inhibition of Lens Aldose Reductase by Flavonoids. Phytochemistry, 23: 1885-1888.
Allelochemic 2 *
Allelopathic 2 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Allergenic 14 *
Alpha-Glucosidase-Inhibitor 1 *
Analgesic 7 *
Ancylostomicide 1 Madaus, G. 1976. Lehrbuch der Biologischen Hilfmittel. Vol,. 1-3. 2862 pp. (+ 144 p. index). Georg Olms Verlag, Hildescheim. Reprint of 1938 Madaus.
Androgenic 1 *
Anesthetic 5 *
Angiogenic 1 *
Ankylostomacide 1 Madaus, G. 1976. Lehrbuch der Biologischen Hilfmittel. Vol,. 1-3. 2862 pp. (+ 144 p. index). Georg Olms Verlag, Hildescheim. Reprint of 1938 Madaus.
Anorexic 1 Martindale's 28th