What is lemon balm?

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Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a small, bushy perennial herb in the mint family. Its small white flowers are much beloved by bees: The genus name, Melissa, is Greek for “honey bee”. The plant has a two-thousand-year history of use in food as a sweetener and flavoring agent.[1] Lemon balm’s leaves release a strong lemon scent when crushed. The leaves are traditionally used in European herbal medicine for stress relief, for bloating and flatulence, as a sleep aid,[2] and externally as an antiviral, particularly for cold sores.[3] Middle Eastern traditional medicine has used the whole lemon balm plant to treat stress, insomnia, depression, anxiety, heart palpitations, paralysis, epilepsy, rheumatism (externally), cough, and fever.[3][4][5] Lemon balm is also used as a natural food flavoring in Europe,[2] and the FDA lists lemon balm as generally regarded as safe (GRAS) when used as a spice, as well as listing its essential oil (known as Balm Oil) as GRAS as a flavoring ingredient.[6]

References
1.^Rosol TJ, Cohen SM, Eisenbrand G, Fukushima S, Gooderham NJ, Guengerich FP, Hecht SS, Rietjens IMCM, Davidsen JM, Harman CL, Kelly S, Ramanan D, Taylor SVFEMA GRAS assessment of natural flavor complexes: Lemongrass oil, chamomile oils, citronella oil and related flavoring ingredients.Food Chem Toxicol.(2023 May)
4.^Javid Ghazizadeh, Saeed Sadigh-Eteghad, Wolfgang Marx, Ali Fakhari, Sanaz Hamedeyazdan, Mohammadali Torbati, Somaiyeh Taheri-Tarighi, Mostafa Araj-Khodaei, Mojgan MirghafourvandThe effects of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) on depression and anxiety in clinical trials: A systematic review and meta-analysisPhytother Res.(2021 Aug 27)
5.^Alijaniha F, Naseri M, Afsharypuor S, Fallahi F, Noorbala A, Mosaddegh M, Faghihzadeh S, Sadrai SHeart palpitation relief with Melissa officinalis leaf extract: double blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial of efficacy and safety.J Ethnopharmacol.(2015 Apr 22)