Althea officinalis Marshmallow) Flashcards
How do you recognise Marshmallow?
- A perennial herbaceous member of the Malvaceae, Hollyhocks and Cotton are also in this family, and Linden trees.
- Dies back in winter but grows to 2m tall in summer.
- Simple, irregularly serrated, heart shaped, velvety leave. Pale pink five petalled flowers.
- Native to Europe, W. Asia & N. Africa.
- Name Althea derived from Greek ‘to heal’.
- Marshmallow sweets don’t really contain marshmallows these days
What are Marshmallow’s main constituents?
Constituents:
* Mucilage & other polysaccharides – soothing.
* Tannins
* Flavonoids in leaves – anti-inflammatory.
* Coumarin.
* Essential oil in flowers.
What family is Marshmallow in?
Malvaceae
What is Marshmallow good for?
Summary: Gloopy, mucilagenous - MM - soothes mucus membranes on the inside and skin on the outside. Root usually used to sooth digestive system/ bowel. Use leaf or flowers for lungs, urinary tract.
Actions:
* Demulcent/emollient.
* Anti-inflammatory.
* Antitussive. (Expectorant).
* Nutritive.
* Antimicrobial, so good against some gut infections and bladder
* Bulk laxative
* Antidiarrhoeal.
Applications:
* To soothe inflamed mucus membranes – in GIT, respiratory system & urinary system
* Inflammatory bowel disease
* Gastritis
* Bronchitis
* Constipation too
* UTIs and to ease pain of kidneys stones being passed.
* Coughs – especially dry coughs, but has a mild expectorant action too on productive coughs.
* Sore throat.
* Topically on boils & ulcers.
* Traditionally: cleaned fresh roots used for teething babies.
* Usually roots used for GIT inflammation, leaves and flowers for RS and US problems.
What is Marshmallow’s Latin name?
Althea officinalis
What parts of Marshmallow do you use?
Parts used: roots, leaves, flowers.
What safety issues might Marshmallow have?
None, safe gentle herb.
What useful research does Marshmallow have?
External links- not loads of research as so safe:
* An exploration of the history of marshmallow sweets – from a blog about food – this is part 2 of three huge articles on Althea!
* Herbal tea helps reduce the pain of acute pharyngitis - There have been a few trials of Althea, but mostly in combination with other herbs – this one might be seen as damning with faint praise!
What remedies might you use Marshmallow in?
Often used as tea or decoction.
Bendle sometimes uses as a root powder too - can be used to make “drawing” ointments and can be mixed with water to soothe the GIT.
Good to mix marshmallow and liqourice into a cough medicine.
