香蜂草(Lemon Balm，Melissa officinalis)
唇形科(Lamiaceae)蜜蜂花或山薄荷属(Melissa)
学名：Melissa officinalis
中文名：(柠檬)香蜂草
【生理活性】
多数香蜂草精油的主成分有反式柠檬醛(geranial)、顺式柠檬醛(neral)、香茅醛(citronellal)和香叶醇(geraniol)#2。塞尔维亚的整株香蜂草精油成分含23.4%反式柠檬醛、16.5%顺式柠檬醛和13.7%香茅醛#3。法国的香蜂草叶精油有48%柠檬醛(顺反式混合)和40%香茅醛#4。希腊的香蜂草叶精油主要是大根香叶烯(germacreneD，34.79–51.50%)、香桧烯(sabinene，0.91–14.68%)、β-石竹烯(β-caryophyllene，7.27–12.66%)和β-蒎烯(β-pinene，0.53–8.03%)#5。纽西兰香蜂草叶精油以β-荜澄茄油烯(β-cubebene，39%)和异松油烯(terpinolene，9.6%)为主成分#6。这些精油的成分组成都会因气候、季节、地理环境、收成时间和制程等原因而有程度不等的差异#7。
民俗疗法
香蜂草入菜和作为草药已有2000年以上的历史，古罗马时期即有治疗蝎子螫伤、蜘蛛咬伤、肠道溃疡、痢疾、关节炎和牙痛的历史，在中世纪时还会用于孕吐、止血和秃头的治疗。15世纪到17世纪间，多本书籍纪载，香蜂草可增进记忆、延年益寿、减少忧郁、重获年轻、预防秃头和改善高血压。1984年，德国草药委员会(German Commission E)出版的德国草药专论(The Commission E Monographs)开始纳入香蜂草。其他国家地区例如：伊朗、英国和欧洲，也将香蜂草列入药典或草药典(Herbal Pharmacopeia)。#8
丹麦人会使用香蜂草治疗伤心、忧虑造成的失眠；在奥地利，香蜂草茶或精油外用在肠胃、神经、肝胆疾病的治疗；古时候的西班牙医生则将香蜂草视为兴奋剂、解毒剂、止痛和通经药；在摩洛哥，香蜂草常用在镇静、抗痉挛和强心等用途；香蜂草在伊朗是重要的传统草药，可用在失落、忧虑、着迷(obsession)和神经方面的治疗。印度的阿育吠陀(Ayurveda)医学认为香蜂草能帮助记忆#9。据说口服小苏打和香蜂草叶是磨菇中毒的偏方，能缓和肠胃溃疡、绞痛或心悸；香蜂草叶和食盐混合的敷料可治瘰疬(scrofula)、肿胀、溃疡、关节痛和牙疼。#8
抗氧化
多篇体外或动物研究皆证明香蜂草萃取物和精油具有抗氧化力#3,10-16。Dastmalchi研究指出#17，香蜂草酒水萃取物在多种抗氧化检测中展现抗氧化力，其表现优于没食子酸(gallic acid)和咖啡因酸(caffeic acid)等抗氧化物，且和常见抗氧化剂BHT(Butylated hydroxyanisole)的抗氧化能力相似。
抗菌
香蜂草精油抑制大肠杆菌和会引起食物中毒的宋内氏志贺菌(Shigella sonei)效果非常好#3，也能有效抑制白色念珠菌#18。多种有机溶剂萃取的香蜂草萃取物#11，实验证明能抑制藤黄八叠球菌(Sarcina lutea)、金黄色葡萄球菌和仙人掌杆菌(Bacillus cereus)的生长。香蜂草水煮液对绿脓杆菌、肠道沙门氏菌(Salmonella typhimurium)和绳状青霉菌(Penicillium funiculo)也有抗菌效果#12。
抗糖尿病、降血糖
患第二型糖尿病的小鼠在口服香蜂草精油6周后，能有效降血糖、提高葡萄糖耐受力(glucose tolerance)和增加血液中胰岛素浓度，有益糖尿病的改善#19。
抗病毒
细胞实验指出#20，香蜂草精油能有效抑制第二类型单纯疱疹病毒(Herpes simplex virus type 2，HSV-2)的复制，不过需在浓度100μg/ml才会开始展现功效。另一项细胞实验则显示#21，精油对第二类型和第一类型(HSV-1)的单纯疱疹病毒都能有效抑制，浓度只要0.00008%(HSV-2)–0.0004%(HSV-1)即有抑制50%效果。
1994年发表的一篇包含115位感染单纯疱疹病毒患者的多中心临床研究(Multicenter Study)#22-23，实验组使用含1%香蜂草水萃取物的药膏，对照组则不含萃取物，其他成分相同，经15天治疗，结果有67人有改善，实验组有24人痊愈，对照组有15人，且实验组痊愈速度优于对照组，证明不含香蜂草的药膏也能对抗病毒，但香蜂草可提升药效。
抗癌
多个细胞实验证明#24，香蜂草精油能有效杀死人类癌细胞，包含肺癌(A549)、乳癌(MCF-7)、大肠癌(Caco‐2)和血癌(HL-60和K562)，还有小鼠的黑色素瘤细胞(B16F10)也有效。不过，半数致死剂量若大于100微克/毫升，则很难期待能在体内发挥疗效#8。高浓度的香蜂草萃取物注射在小鼠腹部有抑制基因毒性和突变性的功效#25。
抗焦虑
皮质酮升高和压力有相关性，小鼠吃含有香蜂草和紫冠西番莲(Passiflora caerulea)水萃取物的食物能减少血液中皮质酮浓度#26。18位健康志愿者参与的临床试验指出，口服600毫克的香蜂草甲醇萃取物后感觉能帮助心情平静，并减少防备心#27。20位有轻度或中度焦虑或失眠的患者，每日早晚口服专利药Cyracos®(香蜂草叶酒水萃取物，内含7%以上迷迭香酸和15%以上酚酸衍生物)300毫克，合计600毫克，持续15天，结果可改善焦虑行为和感受，治疗失眠的状况更为明显，20位都有达到效果，其中17位大幅改善#28。
保护神经、改善神经性疾病
大鼠的神经细胞实验显示，香蜂草甲醇和水萃取物能减少过氧化物导致的损伤，且甲醇萃取物效果优于水萃物#14。在海马回的细胞实验，当香蜂草叶水萃取物、毒化物和海马回细胞共同培养时，浓度10μg/ml的萃取物可减少毒化物产生的毒性约20%#29。香蜂草精油在体外和大鼠实验都证明能保护神经细胞，除了减少因毒化物造成的细胞死亡，也抑制氧化反应，使氧化物浓度下降#10。香蜂草含有的迷迭香酸成分，在人类神经细胞实验，也有维持神经细胞完整、减少因化学物质造成细胞毒性的功效#30。
42位有轻度到中度阿兹海默症患者参与的实验，经16周每日口服60滴香蜂草酒水萃取物(每毫升含500微克以上柠檬醛)，结果证明能减少躁动，并改善认知和行为能力#31。
抗癫痫
口服过香蜂草整株甲醇或水萃取物的小鼠，经药物或电流引起癫痫后，能有效减少抽慉、阵挛等发作反应，其中以甲醇萃取物对电引起的癫痫效果最佳，约可达药物90%#32。另一项大鼠施以药物引发癫痫的实验#33，腹腔注射香蜂草酒水萃取物的大鼠，可有效延迟开始发作时间，并减少发作持续时间。
减少婴儿不明原因的哭
一项88位婴儿完成的临床试验#34，实验组使用含德国洋甘菊(Matricariae recutita)、茴香(Foeniculum vulgare)和香蜂草的混合萃取物(产品：ColiMil)，对照组为安慰剂，每日2次为期一周的实验显示，实验组婴儿从每日平均200分钟的哭泣时间减少到79分钟，对照组从199到170分钟，而且实验组有85.4%婴儿哭泣时间减少，对照组仅48.9%。另外，实验期间未观察到任何副作用。
可能风险
1天吃下含有500毫克迷迭香酸的香蜂草萃取物对人无害#35。另一临床，人吃下80毫克的香蜂草萃取物也无害#36。可是有些研究有见到副作用，例如食欲增加#37、头痛、脑电图(EEG，electroencephalographic)不正常(1200毫克剂量)、注意力降低(900毫克剂量)、眼压升高、心悸和抑制甲状腺素#8,38。建议在未有更新证据之前，最好避免长期的高剂量使用。
精油皮肤外用时，可能有发红、发炎、灼热感、色素残留和刺激等副作用#38，建议皮肤外用时最高浓度不超过0.9%#23。
【芳疗功效】
真正的香蜂草精油很稀少，因为它们常会添加其它精油或化合物，例如柠檬草或柠檬醛#23，加上产率低，所以昂贵又稀有#39-40。吸嗅香蜂草可能可以减少恶梦#8。72位重度失智症(dementia)患者参与的临床实验#41，含10%香蜂草精油的乳液使用在实验组脸部和双臂每日2次持续4周，每次涂擦时皆短暂按摩，每日使用剂量总计约200毫克精油，对照组为葵花油，结果实验组患者有效减少躁动行为，且生活品质明显改善。
【料理应用】
传统香肠富含油脂、饱和脂肪和胆固醇，易增加罹患心血管疾病或慢性病风险。健康取向的香肠，其配方含高ω-3不饱和脂肪酸，能减少动脉粥状硬化或血栓形成，但ω-3不饱和脂肪酸易氧化，需添加合成或天然抗氧化剂稳定油脂。香蜂草的酒水或水萃取物可有效抑制发酵香肠、未发酵香肠的油脂氧化、增加抗氧化力，且调味不影响喜好接受度，研究甚至指添加香蜂草酒水萃取物的熟香肠存放在冰箱(4℃)32天都能不氧化#42-44。其他研究显示香蜂草萃取物使用在鱼排#45、牛肉排#46和熟猪肉#47也都有抑制油脂氧化、延长保存时间或改善品质的效果，无论是烹调前后，或料理过程中。
香蜂草分量轻盈，味道清淡温和，除可加进肉类料理当天然抗氧化剂，和杏桃、浆果、芦笋、薄荷、巴西里或其他水果、沙拉等也很适合。
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