Passiflora incarnata/edulis

It feels fitting that this first blog is about the beautiful and enigmatic vine species: the passion flower. Not only because I love the dear granadilla (as we call it here in South Africa), or because I manage to grow it very successfully in my garden, but also because it is the plant that I used to make my first ever tincture.

It feels fitting that this first blog is about the beautiful and enigmatic vine species: the passion flower. Not only because I love the dear granadilla (as we call it here in South Africa), or because I manage to grow it very successfully in my garden, but also because it is the plant that I used to make my first ever tincture. 

One could say that fauna and flora run in my veins. My great-grandparents were horticulturists, and as a child, my parents managed to keep me alive on plant medicine. I don't recall ever visiting a GP - herbal remedies have always been a part of my life. That being said, modern medicine has allowed humankind to synthesize the healing properties of plants, making them more readily available. Personally, I believe in finding a balance that works for the individual, the condition, and the situation.

I grew up drinking green tea and carrot juice in the 90's - back when people smoked cigarettes in malls and yoga was for hippies. 

Being exposed to alternative healing methods at an early age sparked a lifelong love for herbal tea and tinctures. My theory is that if it tastes odd and earthy, it must be good for you. That's probably how I decided to chop and dry my granadilla vine and make my first tincture.

During the lockdown in 2020, when the world was still in a state of early pandemic shock, the end of summer graced us with the epic, purple flowers that give the passion fruit plant its name (and vibrant colour).

As a new mom, I had barely taken my eyes off my then 1-year old and it had taken its toll on my mental health. I wasn't sleeping well and was suffering from anxiety. I had some valerian root tea that was about to expire and had plowed through my remaining stock of medicinal teas that I had brought back from a trip to Germany (the land of plentiful medicinal teas). One of these - a firm favorite - was aptly named and roughly translates as "Fall Asleep Tea". Whenever I struggled to rest, this tea just did it for me. And when it ran out, I honed in on the ingredients for the first time - the primary one being: passiflora!

I jumped onto YouTube to learn how I could extract its essence. Although tea was one method, making tincture was another. I found a dusty bottle of vodka in the depths of my garage and spent an afternoon cutting, cleaning, trimming, chopping, and hanging the passiflora leaves and flowers. Later, I realised that the South African variety of passionflower is not the same as the one I had been drinking in my tea, namely the North American passiflora incarnata. My homegrown granadilla was the South American variety, passiflora edulis. 

Yet the fine edulis made its way into my tea and tincture experiment, solidifying my underlying love for herbs, herbal remedies, and herbal tea. In many ways, it was the passiflora who incited my own passion to study phytotherapy, and create my own range of herbal products.