- Gyno Stemma
- Hibiscus
- Butterfly Pea Flower
It is made from Butterfly Pea Flower (Clitoria Ternatea).?
It has the most beautiful natural blue color. It will change to purple/violet/pink when you add lemon or other citrus. So it’s a magical drink and a science experiment, my daughter loves it. I like to steep the flowers in hot water then chill for iced tea. I found it while researching natural blue food coloring. I’m excited to use it to naturally color different foods like rice, cakes, frostings, jello, etc…
Oh and the butterfly pea flower tea has a huge list of health benefits! ?
“Butterfly Pea has been ascribed many health benefits in both Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, many of which have been supported with contemporary clinical research.
The herb shows promise in studies for its brain boosting effects and its wide spectrum of neurological benefits including helping with depression, anxiety and reducing fever.
In studies to date, Butterfly Pea has shown to act on several key systems of the body:
The Nervous System – Butterfly Pea has a calming effect on the brain
The Digestive System – Butterfly Pea is an antiemetic (anti-nausea), antidypsetic (anti-indigestion), mild-laxative and cholagogue (stimulates flow of bile from liver)
The Circulatory System – Butterfly Pea is a haemostatic (helps stop bleeding) and a blood purifier
The Respiratory System – Butterfly Pea acts as an expectorant and has shown to reduce the irritation of respiratory organs, useful in treating colds, coughs and even asthma.
The Urinary System – Butterfly Pea is a diuretic, helping promote normal urination and can be used for dysuria (difficulty urinating)
The Reproductive System: Butterfly Pea is reported to be spermatogenic, aiding in normal sperm production
The Integumentary System – Pre-maturing ageing is often a problem of the skin. Flavonoids present in Butterfly Pea have been found to boost collagen production, increasing the skin elasticity.
Butterfly pea is one of the few plants on earth that contain cyclotides, peptides that have shown to possess anti-HIV and anti-tumor properties, while certain cyclotides have been shown to be toxic to cancer cells.
In fact, while more studies are needed recent Chinese research suggests butterfly pea is very effective against certain lung cancer cells.
Researchers have also found that a powder made from the ground-up butterfly pea leaves can enhance cognitive ability, improving memory and brainpower.
Other studies in India found that butterfly pea improves the body’s levels of acetylcholine – an important neurotransmitter – vital for communication within your brain.
Acetylcholine decreases significantly as we age and Butterfly Pea has been found to stimulate its production.”
“Benefits of Butterfly Pea (Clitoria Ternatea)
Improve eyesight
Clitoria Ternatea contains an antioxidant called proanthocyanidin, which increases blood flow to the capillaries of the eyes, useful in treatment of glaucoma, blurred vision, retinal damage or tired eyes.
Improve hair growth
Rich in bioflavonoids, Butterfly Pea can promote hair growth and reduce greying of hair.
Improve skin
Butterfly Pea’s antioxidants stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis, which helps rejuvenate the skin and lessen wrinkles and other signs of ageing.
Aphrodisiac
Butterfly Pea has been traditionally used as an aphrodisiac particularly for women and used to treat menstruation problems or white vaginal discharge (leucorrhoea).
Antioxidant
Flavonoids, anthocyanins and phenolic compounds in Butterfly Pea flowers activate antioxidant activity, which helps decrease oxidative stress caused by disease causing and ageing free radicals.
Nootropic
Butterfly Pea has been shown to enhance cognitive function and boost brain function.
Diuretic
Butterfly Pea promotes normal urination, which in turn lowers blood pressure
Analgesic
Clitoria Ternatea has been used traditionally as a local anaesthetic as it has been shown to help relieve pain and swelling.
Anxiolyhic
Butterfly Pea has a calming effect on the body, reducing stress and anxiety
Anti-inflammatory
The deep indigo flowers contain flavonoids. Found in almost all fruits and vegetables, flavonoids are powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits.
Anti-Asthmatic
It is used in common cold, cough & asthma as it acts as an expectorant and reduces the irritation of respiratory organs.
Anti-anxiety and depression
Indications are that high doses of Butterfly Pea may be adaptogenic – helping the body deal with stressors.
Anti-diabetic
Butterfly Pea has shown to inhibit glucose intake from the diet.
Anti-HIV
Butterfly Pea is one of the few herbs to contain cyclotides, which have exhibited anti-HIV effects in studies.
Anti-cancer and anti-tumor
Clitoria Ternatea’s cyclotides can cause cancer cell death by disrupting cell membrane integrity.
Anti-microbial
In several Indian studies, Butterfly Pea exhibited significant anti-microbial effects against Staphylococcus Aureus.
Anti-convulsant
Butterfly Pea has been shown to help reduce the severity and stress on the body from convulsions useful in treating epilepsy.
Anti-pyretic
Clitoria Ternatea can help reduce fever by dilating the blood vessels right beneath the skin, whereby air can cool the blood easier.”
Clitoria ternatea, commonly known as butterfly pea, is a perennial herbaceous plant from the Fabaceae family. It has recently attracted a lot of interest as it has potential applications both in modern medicine and agriculture, and as a source of natural food colorants and antioxidants. C. ternatea has long been cultivated as a forage and fodder crop, and early studies assessed the plant for these purposes (Reid and Sinclair, 1980; Barro and Ribeiro, 1983; Hall, 1985). Numerous field trials in Queensland, Australia, eventually led to the registry of C. ternatea cv. ‘Milgarra’ (Oram, 1992), the only cultivar in Australia that was released for grazing purposes (Conway and Doughton, 2005). Additionally, C. ternatea has been widely used in traditional medicine, particularly as a supplement to enhance cognitive functions and alleviate symptoms of numerous ailments including fever, inflammation, pain, and diabetes (Mukherjee et al., 2008).
In as early as the 1950s, studies on C. ternatea sought to elucidate its pharmacological activities, phytochemical composition and active constituents (Grindley et al., 1954; Piala et al., 1962; Kulshreshtha and Khare, 1967; Morita et al., 1976). The novel C. ternatea anthocyanins termed “ternatins” which render C. ternatea flowers with their vivid blue color, were first isolated in 1985 (Saito et al., 1985). Following further isolation and structural characterization of numerous other ternatins, the ternatin biosynthetic pathway was postulated a decade later (Terahara et al., 1998). In 2003, comparison of C. ternatea lines bearing different floral colors provided insights into the role of acylation on C. ternatea floral color determination (Kazuma et al., 2003a). The abundance of these unique anthocyanins alongside other secondary metabolites in C. ternatea makes the plant an ideal source of natural additives that can enhance the appearance and nutritive values of consumer products (Pasukamonset et al., 2016, 2017, 2018; Siti Azima et al., 2017). Although a number of recent studies has endeavored to elucidate the pharmacological activities of C. ternatea (Adhikary et al., 2017; Kavitha, 2018; Singh et al., 2018), the contribution of individual extract components on any bioactivity measured remains unknown.
