Pharmacognozic studies on melissa officinalis subsp. officinalis

Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) has long been used as sedative, carminative, sudorific and stomachic in folk medicine and these effects have been proved experimentally. The phytotherapeutics, containing the extracts prepared from fresh or dried leaves are utilized as sedative and in the treatment of insomnia due to nervousness. Rosmarinic acid (hydroxycinnamic acid derivative), which is one of the main secondary metabolites in the leaves, is used as a marker compound for M. officinalis. In the monograph of European Pharmacopoeia, the percentage of total hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives of the drug is calculated over rosmarinic acid.In this study, botanical characteristics, chemical constituents, biological activities and uses of M. officinalis were given in detail. The compliance of both the cultured sample and the sample that were collected from the nature with the European Pharmacopoeia 6.0 was determined. For this purpose, macroscopic and microscopic examinations, foreign matter and total ash determination, TLC and UV spectroscopy experiments were performed and it was concluded that both samples comply with the monograph of the European Pharmacopoeia. Total hydroxycinnamic acid percentages were calculated as 10.12 % in the sample which was collected from the nature and 8.45 % in cultured sample in the spectrophotometric assay. Moreover, the determination and quantitation of rosmarinic acid was performed by using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) in both samples. According to the HPTLC analysis results, rosmarinic acid percentages were found to be 3.4 % and 7.2 % in samples collected from the nature and in samples that were cultured respectively. Qualitative and quantitative analysis results of the study indicate that the desired features were found in cultured sample in terms of ?Good Agricultural Practices?. Besides this, morphologic, microscopic and chromatographic comparison of M. officinalis with a drug, Verbena officinalis (Verbenaceae) often sold as `melisa? in herbalists, was performed and the results were discussed.