TABLE 3.
Various plant species used for anxiety.
| Botanical name | Family | Active constituents | Neurochemical pathways | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Achillea millefolium | Asteraceae | Flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, and dicaffeoylquinic acids | — | Nemeth and Bernath (2008), Baretta et al. (2012) |
| Aloysia polystachya | Verbenaceae | Thujone carvone | GABA | Mora et al. (2005), Hellion-Ibarrola et al. (2006) |
| Abies pindrow | Pinaceae | Terpenoids, flavonoids, and glycosides | — | Assad et al. (2021) |
| Albizia julibrissin | Fabaceae | Flavonoids and triterpenoid saponins | Serotonin, 5-HT1A | Kim et al. (2004), Jung et al. (2005) |
| Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi) | Plantaginaceae | Bacoside A | ACh, DA, NA, 5-HT | Stough et al. (2001), Calabrese et al. (2008), Charles et al. (2011), Pase et al. (2012) |
| Cannabis sativa/indica (marijuana) | Cannabaceae | Cannabidiol | Cannabinoid | Campos and Guimarães (2008), Resstel et al. (2009), Bergamaschi et al. (2011) |
| Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) | Rutaceae | Volatile oils and flavonoids | GABA | Akhlaghi et al. (2011), Saiyudthong and Marsden (2011) |
| Galphimia glauca | Malpighiaceae | Nor-seco-triterpene (galphimine B) | 5-HT | Herrera-Ruiz et al. (2006a), Herrera-Ruiz et al. (2006b), Herrera-Arellano et al. (2007), Jiménez-Ferrer et al. (2011), Herrera-Arellano et al. (2012) |
| Apocynum venetum | Apocynaceae | Flavonoids | GABA and 5-HT | Grundmann et al. (2007), Xie et al. (2007) |
| Crocus sativus | Iridaceae | Safranal, crocin, and picrocrocin | 5-HT, NE, DA, GLU, and GABA | Hosseinzadeh and Sadeghnia (2007), Schmidt et al. (2007), Pitsikas et al. (2008), Hosseinzadeh and Noraei (2009), Ghadrdoost et al. (2011) |
| Eschscholzia californica | Papaveraceae | Benzophenanthridine alkaloids | GABA | Rolland et al. (1991), Rolland et al. (2001), Klvana et al. (2006) |
| Euphorbia hirta | Euphorbiaceae | Alkaloids and phenolics | GABA | Lanhers et al. (1990), Anuradha et al. (2008) |
| Justicia spp. | Acanthaceae | Elenoside | GABA | Navarro et al. (2004), Venâncio et al. (2011) |
| Leea indica | Vitaceae | Triterpenoid glycosides, hydrocarbons, and ursolic acid | Srinivasan et al. (2008), Raihan et al. (2011) | |
| Panax ginseng | Araliaceae | Triterpenoid saponins (ginsenosides | Monoamines, HPA-axis, and BDNF | Dang et al. (2009), Jiang et al. (2021) |
| Ginkgo biloba | Ginkgoaceae | Ginkgolides | Dopamine, noradrenaline (norepinephrine) | Kuribara et al. (2003), Woelk et al. (2007), Fehske et al. (2009), Yoshitake et al. (2010) |
| Passiflora incarnata (passion flower) | Passifloraceae | Amino acids, chrysin, b-carboline alkaloids, and flavonoids | GABA | Akhondzadeh et al. (2001), Movafegh et al. (2008), Aslanargun et al. (2012) |
| Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) | Solanaceae | Glycowithanolides | GABA | Andrade et al. (2000) |
| Valeriana spp. (valerian) | Caprifoliaceae | Valerenic acid and valepotriates | Adenosine and GABA | Andreatini and Leite (1994), Andreatini et al. (2002), Benke et al. (2009), Nunes and Sousa (2011), Javan Gholiloo et al. (2019) |
| Turnera diffusa | Turneraceae | Flavonoids (apigenin) and essential oils | GABA | Kumar and Sharma (2005), Kumar et al. (2008) |