Ziziphora

Other Names : Ziziphora clinopodioides, Blue mint Bush
The Ziziphora clinopodioides plant, also known as Blue Mint Bush, thrives in the dry soil of Western Asia. It is in the family Lamiaceae in the major group Angiosperms—or flowering plants. This traditional medicinal plant has long been studied and applied in the treatment of various diseases, especially in its native growing regions of Iran, Iraq, and central and eastern part of Turkey.

Benefits and uses of Ziziphora are

It is traditionally used by the Uighur people for treating hypertension. Ziziphora is also a famous tea among the Siberian Altay nomads. These hunters are said to "come home to their yurts to a hot mug of Ziziphora tea with a pat of yak butter floating on top after a hard day of wolf hunting on horseback with berkuts (the big Siberian eagles they hunt with)." These nomads believe that Ziziphora invigorates the heart and nourishes the blood. Among the active phytochemicals this species contains, are: acacetin, apigenin, chrysin, thymonin, acetovanillone, 4-hydroxyacetophenone and ethyl 4-coumarate. Apigenin, chrysin and ethyl 4-coumarate have been found useful for vasodilation. Its essential oils have also been found effective against aflatoxin in food preservation.

• Hypertension : Ziziphora clinopodioides is traditionally used by the Uighur people for treating hypertension
• has been found to have potent antibacterial effects on some bacterial species.
• Gastric cancer : A recent publication in the journal Food and Agricultural Immunology investigating the effects of aloe vera, ginger, saffron and ziziphora extracts as herbal remedies for gastric cancer suggests that the latter may be effective in the treatment of the fourth most common form of the disease.
• As a sedative and carminative
• anti-vomiting
• anti-inflammatory
• antiseptic in food