Description

Climbing perennial plant whose name from Latin "passion – flos" means “flower of passion”. Since the time of the Aztecs its beneficial properties were well known, especially those calming, anxiolytic and healing insomnia.During the First World War it was used as a nervous sedative against the so-called “war Anguish”.

Parts used

Flowering tops - fruit.

Origin

Central-South America, it is nowadays diffused and cultivated in different regions of Italy.

Properties and main applications:

Personal care: astringent.

Nutraceutical: relaxation (sleep; in case of stress) - mental well-being - regular gastrointestinal motility and elimination of gas.

Curiosity

The name passiflora from the Latin "passio" (passion) and "flos"  (flower), was attributed to this plant by the Jesuit missionaries. When in 1600 they saw for the first time its characteristic flower they imagined a symbolic parallelism with the passion of Christ, attributing the name with which it is still known today.