the toronjil and its benefits

Dear readers, in our natural ecosystems we can always find the solution to many problems that distress us, among them those concerning health. Most of the times when we feel some discomfort we automatically resort to the use of conventional medicine coming from the big pharmaceutical industries that have high costs and that many of them have as a secret ingredient some plants that have a high medicinal potential, In this sense, knowing that there are some plants that have multiple medicinal benefits, this publication will describe some characteristics both agronomic and medicinal crop known as toronjil whose scientific name is Melissa oficinales, in addition, I will share how to prepare a toronjil tea, for stomach problems.

Taking as a base the plants that are at home, the of toronjil plant, is of semi-woody consistency when it reaches its maturity, the plant can reach up to 70 cm high, the leaves are attached to the stem with a short petiole of opposite form, These leaves can reach a width of 4 cm and when passing the fingers through the upper side of the leaf it can be perceived as a species of tiny hairs, it has superficial roots and its propagation can be done in a vegetative way (vegetative parts of the same plant) by means of cuttings.

The toronjil plant can adapt to different climates with temperatures from 25 °C (Celsius) in high areas such as in the Municipality of Zea in the State of Merida in Venezuela to more than 32 °C (Celsius) in the Municipality of Colon in the State of Zulia where I live, it is recommended to sow it in free soil and if you plan to sow it in pots you can use 50% of soil and %50 of any type of solid fertilizer like the one coming from worms or compost, besides it adapts well in zones with a high relative humidity typical of some tropical zones.

The toronjil has been widely studied to know its active principles, among the researches carried out are those of Sánchez, León, Chávez, Hechevarría and Pino (2010), they mentioned that among the main compounds found in plants are essential oils such as citral, citronellal, geraniol and nerol, as well as flavonoids and tannins. On the other hand, according to Aldana (2001), these essential oils have sedative and calming effects on the nerves. Also, if the leaves are taken and tea is made, it can have antispasmodic and digestive effects since it presents antibacterial activity.

Based on these premises, the initiative to disseminate the present content is based on my own experience that I obtained by ingesting a lemon balm tea to calm a difficult stomach disorder that has been present for weeks, after consuming it every 6 hours for 2 consecutive days, the abdominal pains due to the stomach problems satisfactorily disappeared and added to that I considerably decreased the visits to the bathroom, you will understand what I mean.

If you have cultivated toronjil at home by logic the first step would be the harvest of the leaves, otherwise you can go to the vegetable market that possibly you will find there, for those who have at home we recommend that at the time of the harvest we try to take the branches that are in the ends, this way we would be making a pruning and we avoid that the plant expands a lot in its orchard or pot, we have observed that in the point where the pruning is made progressively new points of growth are formed bringing with them new branches.

We proceed to separate the leaves from the branches, which are the ones that will be used in the infusion.

The water is placed to boil, when we see that the boiling begins, the leaves are placed inside the pot and the flame of the kitchen is extinguished, the pot is covered and left there for about 3 or 5 minutes.

After letting the infusion rest a little, it is served, if you wish you can add a pinch of honey.

Dear readers, we hope that the information shared will be of great use to all of you, without a doubt, natural medicine is the most effective and healthy local source with which you can treat some of your illnesses, we only need to know a little about the ecosystem that surrounds us, sometimes we do not know that in our own home we have the cure for our ills. The idea is not to depend on conventional medicine created by large transnational industries, which know how to use natural medicinal sources and put a high price on them.

- Sánchez, E.; León, M.; Chávez, D.; Hechevarría, I. and Pino, J. (2010) Pharmacognostic characterization of Melissa officinalis L. (lemon balm). Cuban Journal of Medicinal Plants,15(4)198-208.

- Aldana, H. (2001). Agricultural production. Newfoundland: Colombia.