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Lemon Verbena

Wikipedia: Aloysia_citrodora 
Last Updated: Aug. 26, 2013 

About Lemon Verbena

Plant with bright white-lavender blossoms on purple stalk, with long, narrow, opposite spearlike leaves, in lush, green settingLemon verbena plant in bloom. Photo © H. Zell (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0.
>Lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla) is a plant with a strong lemon scent, similar to lemon balm, lemongrass, and lemon myrtle. Not closely related to lemongrass and lemon myrtle, it is only a distant relative of lemon balm, both being in different families in the order Lamiales.

Lemon verbena is the most well-known of the verbenas, a family which includes a number of plants which mimic the aromas of various other plants, such as pineapple verbena (Nashia inaguensis), or Bushy Lippia (Lippia alba), a verbena native to Texas with many of the same chemical components of lemon verbena. Other verbenas are also used in herbal teas.

Lemon verbena is frequently consumed as a tea on its own, and also blended as an ingredient in other teas, sometimes together with lemon balm and/or lemongrass. Although its aroma is in many respects similar to lemon balm and lemongrass, it nevertheless has its own distinct qualities. Lemon verbena, and other verbenas, in addition to their uses in tea, are also used to flavor a liqueur called verveine; because of this, teas sometimes reference the presence of verbena with the name "verveine".

Gaiwan with dark green, pointy wet leaves, Chinese teacup with pale yellow liquid, on a plate, on a teal and white tablecloth backgroundWhole-leaf lemon verbena after steeping in a gaiwan, and the infusion it produces. Photo © Alex Zorach, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most lemon verbena is sold in broken-leaf form, but whole-leaf lemon verbena is sometimes commercially available. Lemon verbena is easy to grow in temperate climates, and can also be used to brew a fresh herbal tea, without drying the herb.

Health benefits & chemical constituents

Lemon verbena is commonly used in Brazilian herbal medicine.[1] It has been found to inhibit the growth of Candida albicans, a type of yeast that can sometimes cause infections in humans.[1,2] It also was found to inhibit the growth of several potentially harmful species of bacteria.[2]

One study found the three main chemical constituents to be geranial, nerol, and limonene.[2] These chemicals occur in lemongrass, lemon balm, and in lemons, although in very different proportions, which explains the similar but distinct aromas. The chemical citral, present in all three plants, has shown some promise for its potential to kill cancer cells.[3]

References:

1. Anti-Candida activity of Brazilian medicinal plants, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Vol. 97, No. 2, pp.305-311, Feb. 28, 2005.


2. Composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils from aromatic plants used in Brazil, Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, Vol.35, No.4, Oct./Dec. 2004.


3. Allison Kaplan Sommer, Fresh lemon grass fields in Israel become mecca for cancer patients, Israel 21c, Apr. 02, 2006.

Recent Lemon Verbena Reviews — RSS rss icon

73 / 100
Picture of Lemon Verbena Cut & Sifted

Lemon Verbena Cut & Sifted from Frontier

Style: Lemon Verbena – Region: Paraguay
Jul. 6th, 2014

Used about 2 tsp for my small pot..smell is like lemongrass..good and solid..the flavor has a strong mouthfeel...it covers the tongue... unique..finishes with a light sweetness that is pleasant. Very nice tea! :)

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67 / 100
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Lemon Verbena Cut & Sifted from Frontier

Style: Lemon Verbena – Region: Paraguay
Jan. 12th, 2014

I like lemon verbena very much, and I find it a pleasant change of pace from other lemon-scented herbal teas. This batch was unusually bold in flavor, but its aroma was similar to other lemon verbena: lemony without being overwhelmingly so.

Aroma suggests lemon, gingerbread, and is also mildly vegetal and herbaceou...

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67 / 100
Picture of Verbena

Verbena from Ronnefeldt

Style: Lemon Verbena – Region: ?????
Jun. 7th, 2013

I love lemon verbena...this was pleasant, but pales in comparison to the whole-leaf herb or even broken-leaf variants.

Moderately lemony, light-bodied for lemon verbena. Flavor mild, pleasing. Dusty finish.

Not as smooth as the whole-leaf herb I've brewed, but not as astringent as some finely-broken herbs that ...

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77 / 100
Picture of Lemon Verbena Cut & Sifted

Lemon Verbena Cut & Sifted from Frontier

Style: Lemon Verbena – Region: Paraguay
Feb. 28th, 2013

It's very smooth on the tongue and not overwhelmingly lemon flavored. Two thumbs up!

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100 / 100
Picture of Lemon Verbena

Wow. And I thought I'd tried lemon verbena before. This is the first herbal tea that I've given a perfect rating, and only my second perfect rating.

This whole-leaf lemon verbena from the ANC Farm is better than anything I've tried fresh or dried. This is to lemon verbena what a high grade Jade Oolong or Tie Guan...

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Most-Rated Lemon Verbena

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Lemon Verbena Cut & Sifted

Brand:Frontier
Style:Lemon Verbena
Region:Paraguay
Caffeine:Caffeine Free
Leaf:Loose
77
3 Ratings
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Lemon Verbena

Brand:Upton Tea Imports
Style:Lemon Verbena
Region:?????
Caffeine:Caffeine Free
Leaf:Loose
1 Rating
Picture of Verbena

Verbena

Brand:Ronnefeldt
Style:Lemon Verbena
Region:?????
Caffeine:Caffeinated
Leaf:Loose
1 Rating
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Lemon Verbena

Brand:ANC Educational Farm
Style:Lemon Verbena
Region:Pennsylvania, United States
Caffeine:Caffeine Free
Leaf:Loose
1 Rating

Top-Rated Lemon Verbena

No image of this tea

Lemon Verbena Cut & Sifted

Brand:Frontier
Style:Lemon Verbena
Region:Paraguay
Caffeine:Caffeine Free
Leaf:Loose
77
3 Ratings

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