Besides being appreciated for its fantastical blooms, passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is used medicinally to calm anxiety and improve sleep. It’s thought to increase levels of GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid). GABA regulates the excitability of neurons in the brain. GABA is also suspected to regulate the production of melatonin, which is related to healthy sleep. And, since GABA is responsible for the regulation of muscle tone, passionflower is believed to reduce muscle tension.
To sum up, passionflower is used to:
- reduce anxiety
- improve sleep
- relax tense muscles
I’m sold.
To make a tincture of passionflower, the leaves, vines, and flower buds are used. Try to harvest at the early flowering stage for greatest potency.
If using fresh, use a ratio of one part plant material to 2 parts menstruum (liquid used to extract the potent compounds from the herb) (1:2). The menstruum is usually alcohol, and that’s what I do, although glycerin and vinegar are sometimes used.
For this particular menstruum, I’m using a ratio of 75% grain alcohol and 25% water.
1. Roughly chop the plant parts and weigh them. For 2 ounces passionflower, for example, use 3 oz. grain alcohol and 1 oz. water, preferably distilled water. Place the passionflower and the menstruum in a blender and combine.
2. Pour into a glass container, add a lid, label with date and name of plant and leave in a dark, cool place.
3. Shake it daily for two weeks.
4. Strain through several layers of cheesecloth and squeeze out as much as you can.
5. Leave it to settle overnight, then pour off the clear liquid on the top (decant). Store in a dark glass container such as an amber glass bottle, tightly capped, in a cool, dark place.
Dosage: Adults, 1-2 droppersful, 3-5 times daily. Take in a small amount of water. Seniors use the lesser amounts.
Properly stored, tinctures are considered to last indefinitely, or for quite a long time. I know that’s not very specific, but use your best judgment.
You can be less finicky about all this if you like, and simply cover the chopped plant parts with 80 proof vodka, leave for a few weeks, strain, and store in a dark place.
You say to use:
“a ratio of one part plant material to 2 parts menstruum (1:2)”
but then go on to say:
“For 4 ounces passionflower, use 3 oz. grain alcohol and 1 oz. water”
or (4:3+1), which is to say (1:1)
Am I wrong, or did I misunderstand? If you meant 1 part plant to 2 parts solvent (ie: 1:2), then if you have 4oz plant, should the solvent be 8oz total?
Please clarify (pun intended)… 🙂
Dave–Yes, you’re right. I got confused with my math, let’s do less plant. I’ll fix it, thanks.
Hiya Daisy,
Just getting into this whole DYI world. I’m digging it. Started using ACV and
baking soda. Enjoying that. This recipe sounds great, definitely could use it. I dont know where to find the passionflower parts. Would you give me some recommendations. Have saved this page as a link to website. Many thanks…
les ransom–I found some growing wild in my yard–my yard has more than its share of wild spots. You can also buy seeds: https://www.horizonherbs.com/product.asp?specific=624 And here’s a lively discussion on growing it from seed on the GardenWeb forum: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg010940515720.html?16 Good luck!
Daisy, I spotted one of these caterpillars in my Germantown yard yesterday and I am ashamed to say I killed it because it was eating my petunia plant. But there were enough blossoms for both the caterpillar and my enjoyment. I won’t do that again. Thanks! LOVE your book and this website. The book is am important member of my “Prepper Library!”
Michelle–They do look like they could do some damage, but as you observed they don’t seem to be doing any real harm. You’ll probably be seeing some of the pretty butterflies, too. I’m so glad you are enjoying the book! Thank you :)!
Does it matter how much of the flower and how much of the vine and leaves are used. Is one part stronger? thank you
Donna–I don’t know, Donna. The only advice I can find in terms of potency is from Richo Cech, author of Making Plant Medicine, who says “the active flavonoids seem to be at their highest concentration and best stability during the early flowering stage.” I let nature determine the proportion, for better or worse, and use as many flowers as I can find during that early flowering period and make the balance of mass of plant materials out of the vines and leaves.
For the dosage: “Adults, 1-2 droppersful, 3-5 times daily”
do you know how much this is in teaspoons or grams? I’m thinking this amount would depend on the size of your dropper.
Thanks!
syrah–It might be most useful for me to give the dosage in drops; passionflower tincture is recommended at a dosage of 10-45 drops, 3 times per day. I know that’s a lot of variation, but I’d recommend starting at the lower end of the dosage, and adjust as needed. Also take into consideration the size of the person using it. Here’s some more info, including dosages for teas and extracts: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/passionflower
hi y’all…I’ve been growing Purple Passion flower[Passiflora Incarnata] since 2008..tried to grow many other types,but unfortunately the purple is the only one we could get to come up,and it has come up in every single spot we’ve planted seeds,unlike all and any other types we have attempted to grow[ and tried to grow other PF types in all different type soils and different soil Ph too]the purple continues to multiply/spread over and around our half acre property..its now growing in just about any and every location on property,as the PF roots can travel 20-30 ft. [easily] and often even further,popping up vines/plants all along the extremely quick traveling main PF root plus the hundreds if not thousands of offshoots from main root that pop up vines..
anyway I keenly watch flying insects and what they instinctively go after for their food supply,and would guess 80-90% of the time they go for the seed..exception would be the Japanese beetle[flyer] that is strictly a leaf eater,and the ‘the why’ they go for the seed so often is obvious:
this is where the highest[by far] concentration of nutrients and active ingredients are! by not putting the[crushed into powder] seeds in a liquid tincture soak bath?,you are [IMHO]..missing out on [far and away] the highest concentration of PF active ingredients that trigger the GABA receptor[s] in our brains!.I just began experimenting with Passion Flower,Kratom,and Kava Kava tictures[to start],and also plan on a “SEED ONLY”[again crushed into powder] batch of Passion Flower tincture,as well as a seed and fruit gel tincture,a seed-fruit gel-leaf-fruit/seed pod skin/shell,stem[dried and ground up]and every other combination passion flower part combination you can think of,although i don’t believe to find much difference in a all P{F parts tincture EXCEPT I certainly expect to find a HUGE difference between the all PF seed tincture vs all other PF parts combination tinctures.. will let y’all know in about 2 weeks which one works the best..I think I can tell you right now the seed only batch[ground into a fairly fine powder with my Vitamix “dry container”] will win hands down as the strongest,most notciple and certainlt MOST EFFECTIVE at promoting relaxation and sleep aid tincture,and hope to open online WHOLESALE storeand therefore available for online or brick & mortor retailers..
how I got into this was simple..was looking for the right concoshun to use in the final phase of opiate withdrawa ,and to help with an even more critical phase of opiate WD..PAWS! so users to help users make it through PAWS that can last a year and up to 2 years [or more depending how long they were taking opiates..I was put on them for severe pain when i blew out the nucleus[the soft sandwich material between spinal vertebrae in the “L” section of spine [that btw..spinal disssscs and disc material between vertabra[ soft and bone disc and disc polapus nucleus have NO BLOOD SUPPLY TO THEM AFTER AGE 20, AND THEREFORE WHY SPINAL DISC AND SOFT SPONGE MATERIAL IN-BETWEEN DISCS THAT ARE DAMAGED BY ACCIDENT,ARTHRITIS & BONE SPURS that develop, and/.or just AGE,TAKE SOOO LONG TO HEAL IF YOU ARE OVER AGE 20] all 5 of my lower lever spinal discs were crushed and/or damaged,so now i have spinal fusion[titanium pods & plates that stabilize spine] AND SPINAL ARTHRITIS after 5 back surgeries..I’m in my last month of opiate taper,and plan on finishing the taper with a Kratom,Passion Flower, and/or Kava Kava tincture to hopefully negate most or all of the restless leg syndrome,and other horrible side effects of opiate withdrawal to a manageable level,as Methadone withdrawal[as does Heroin,morphine,fentanyl,and all other pharmaceutical opiates,can often times go on for months and months,and even a year or more depending how long[&/or how much opiate you took daily] you were on them,and if these tinctures can help ease withdrawal agony, I’ll certainly have achieved my goal,even if its only a substantial lessoning of the horrific WD agony[‘ve done Rapid Detox..too fast] and done regular detox twice..they put you on Subuxone[just another opiate substitute and when you run out of the Subuxone they prescribe you upon your detox release[I can go home?HALLELUJAH!..THANK- YOU LORD GOD..THEY’RE ACTUALLY LETTING ME THE **** OUTTA HERE!!!!!] God I love being home..you just don’t know how blessed you are to have a home,roof over your head,heat,AC, your dog until you do a month of rehab[or jail for some]..I LOOOOVE MY DOG and wife & MISSED THEM BOTH SOOO MUCH!!! etc etc etc till you’ve been in detox a frickin month!]you are right back in horrific opiate WD again!
,and then hope to ramp up the tincture production to assembly line, large scale production..I plan [hopefully if all goes well] to be a wholesale supplier to retailers..We’ve done the retail gig and had waaay too many problems with delivery.. USPS delivery[live plants]..so much so I’ll never do it again unless our new PRESIDENT,Pres. Donald P.Trump[if that is.. the deep state Zionist banksters who run the world behind the Oz curtain] doesn’t take him down to Dallas/ Dealy Plaza and remove half his head per JFK style] changes the Orweilian law that will allow small package/letter delivery to be handled by a delivery company/service besides USPS!!!!! USPS is incredibly, undependable-and have the obnoxious i don’t give a **** attitude you find in most ALL government agencies today, and their “I can’t be fired so F U” ,if you piss me off I’ll go postal,and the F U & the 350 horse power horse you rode in in employee attitude I can no longer tolerate..
if you have these herbs growing on your property,we recommend using the VITAMIX BLENDER a hi-use,hi-power blender w/LIFETIME GUARANTEE!] to grind up PF stems,leaves,fruit gel[all dried 1st] and fruit pod outer skin/shell[dried] too..yes the passion flower fruit pod casing/outer skin will be yet another addition to tincture mixes we will be trying also..I’m hoping the ‘seed only’ tincture will be very helpful for folks trying to get off opiates and getting much needed sleep…the absolute worst part about opiate WD is no sleep and RLS..I believe this PF seed only tincture[s] will bind to the opiate receptors in opiate addicts that have too many of them from months and/or years of opiate/heroin use..maybe I could wholesale you Daisy and also Mountain Rose Herbs[I buy nearly all my herbs I don’t grow myself from MRH in CA. as the seed only will require a LOT of seeds which we have each year..
maybe you might be interested in retailing my PF seed only tincture as well/ too? but.. I’m putting the cart before horse as I still have 2 weeks more to wait before my first batch of PF tincture[s] is even ready,and put to the test as I quit taking all opiates.. !
you can contact me..Randy..at tommy22tone8675309@yahoo.com…
no luck..didn’t work at all..back to the drawing board..
first batch was readfy yesterday and sat 4 weeks.certainly long enough to work..funny that no active ingredient in seed[to relax..calming effect was non-existent with 20 drops and 40 drops..surely more than enough to get a relaxing ..sedating effect/ reaction..was hoping it would be similar to Kratom and even more so to help getting off opiates and benzos..the 2 nastiest pig farm-ah scrpis to get off of..[ask Stevie Nicks on the Klonapin..she’ll tell ya straight up..no picnic getting off benzos but anything that calms is certainlt better than nothing like Kava Kava and GABA to name 2 ..GABA supplement worked the best for me in as far as getting a few winks of sleep..will keep experimening as I planted lots of herbs in that class this Summer and going to try lots of tincture experimentation..saw a boobtube where Brandy was used in place of Vodka..any spirit can be used [would guess] as long it’s at least 80 proof ???
I have a few different kind of passiflora growing, but not the incarnata. Do you know if they other passifloras could be used also?
Hmm I’m wanting to try this but it useless so long to do an wait for, I’m scared it’ll be like you an I’ll feel absolutely nothing
I’m desperate for non narcotic help.