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Psf8.0
Passionflower Research
Likely helpsHigh safety
30 peer-reviewed studies
What the evidence says
Likely helps
Passionflower appears to help in 4 of 4 studies with measurable effects — the evidence leans clearly favourable.
Most evidence is from high-quality meta-analyses and randomised trials published 2001–2025 with a typical study size of 110 participants.
Based on 30 studies · 2 meta-analyses · 5 RCTs · 3,651 total participants
Depression & moodAnxiolytic effects support emotional calm and well-being · 2-4 weeks
Too few graded studies2 studies
Cognitive function
Too few graded studies1 study
Men's vitality
Too few graded studies1 study
By the numbers
Pulled from 18 studies with measurable effects
Likely real effects
50%
across studies
People studied
3,651
typical study: 110 people
Strongest designs
7
2 pooled, 5 randomised
Showed benefit
100%
4/4 studies
How long studies ran
1–4 weeks
1
Populations Studied
Adults with insomnia1
Adults with insomnia and circadian rhythm disorders1
Patients with insomnia1
Patients with mental disorders1
Active research area
10 studies in the last 5 years · Latest meta-analysis: 2022
200120132025
1Insomnia symptomsSystematic ReviewCited 3×n=405 · medium study2025
Over-the-counter products show promising, but inconclusive findings in alleviating insomnia symptoms in adults.
Salame A et al. · Sleep medicine (2025)
Over-the-counter products show promising, but inconclusive findings in alleviating insomnia symptoms in adults.
Future research should focus on investigating products currently used in real life, consider economic evaluations, and be evaluated in populations with co-morbidities and ethnic minorities, to better guide clinical advice.
2Insomnia and circadian rhythm disordersSystematic ReviewCited 2×2025
Through comparative synthesis of pharmacokinetics and neurochemical mechanisms, this work aims to inform the development of evidence-based strategies for the treatment of insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders.
Żełabowski K et al. · Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) (2025)
Accumulating evidence highlights that selected medicinal plants, such as chamomilla, lemon balm, black cumin, valeriana, passionflower and lavender, may exert relevant hypnotic or anxiolytic effects, thus complementing melatonergic strategies in the management of insomnia.
This structured narrative review presents a comprehensive analysis of the molecular pharmacology, receptor affinity, signaling pathways, and clinical outcomes associated with melatonergic agents.
It also examines their functional interplay with serotonergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic, and orexinergic systems involved in arousal and sleep regulation.
This systematic-review examined the effects of Passionflower.
Ebrahim YM et al. · Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology (2025)
These remedies exert their effects through multiple mechanisms, both directly by modulating neurotransmitter and hormonal pathways within sleep circuits, and indirectly by enhancing sleep quality through the alleviation of stress, inflammation, and oxidative stress.
Clinical studies were piloted to validate the efficacy of natural sleep aids.
Future research should focus on elucidating the precise mechanisms through which natural products influence sleep.
Despite the promising potential of these medicinal plants, the study identifies significant gaps in current knowledge, primarily due to the scarcity of clinical trials in humans, variability in plant chemical composition, and a lack of standardized extracts.
5Anxiety symptoms (HAMA scores)Meta-AnalysisCited 48×n=29 · very small study2022
Medicinal herbs may be promising for the treatment of anxiety.
Zhang W et al. · Pharmacological research (2022)
Noticeable benefit
← WorseNo effectBetter →
Kava was found to be an effective anxiolytic (MD: -2.46, 95% CrI: -4.47 to -0.32) but possibly ineffective in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (MD: -0.17, 95% CrI: -2.55 to -1.97).
Ginkgo biloba (MD: -4.63, 95% CrI: -9.01 to -0.23) and Withania somnifera (MD: -4.90, 95% CrI: -9.70 to -0.17) were efficacious, as measured by HAMA scores but the trials were limited by their small sample sizes.
Conversely, although Passionflower (MD: -4.20, 95% CrI: -8.82 to 0.16) and Saffron (MD: -2.71, 95% CrI: -6.06 to 0.57) did not reduce HAMA scores significantly in the summary network, both were worthy of further study because of support from separate networks.
6Herbal remedies effect on GABAergic system and sleepSystematic ReviewCited 66×2021
Currently available evidence suggests that herbal extracts may exert some of their hypnotic and anxiolytic activity through interacting with GABA receptors and modulating GABAergic signaling in the brain, but their mechanism of action in the treatment of insomnia is not completely understood.
Bruni O et al. · Nutrients (2021)
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that plays a major role in controlling different vigilance states.
GABA receptors are the targets of many pharmacological treatments for insomnia, such as benzodiazepines.
Here, we perform a systematic analysis of studies assessing the mechanisms of action of various herbal medicines on different subtypes of GABA receptors in the context of sleep control.
Lavender appears to have the best available evidence including comparable efficacy to conventional first line treatments and is available in a patented form that was used in the cited studies (Silexan).
Gattari TB et al. · Current psychiatry reports (2022)
The efficacy of medicinal plants depends on treatment duration, types of study subjects, administration route, and treatment method.
Borrás S et al. · Planta medica (2021)
The efficacy of medicinal plants depends on treatment duration, types of study subjects, administration route, and treatment method.
More clinical trials with an adequate, standardized design are necessary, as are more preclinical studies to continue studying the mechanisms of action.
As a result of our work, we can conclude that the 3 plants with the most potential are valerian, passionflower, and ashwagandha, with the combination of valerian with hops and passionflower giving the best results in the clinical tests.Thieme.
Despite several studies have been performed with this aim, the available evidence is inconclusive, and reviews summarizing the most recent evidences on the effectiveness of plant-derived products in treating insomnia are lacking.This narrative review aims at summarizing the evidences of the mechanism of action, effectiveness and safety of the most commonly used plant-derived products for the treatment of sleep disorders (Valerian, Lemon balm, Passionflower, Chamomile, Hops, and Jujube).
Lelli D et al. · Advances in experimental medicine and biology (2021)
Sleep disorders have a high prevalence both in the general population and especially in specific populations such older adults and oncologic patients.
Impacting on quality of life, they often translate in drug prescription, with consequent increased risk of drug-drug interactions and adverse drug reactions.
In the last years several products derived from plants have been developed with the aim of treating insomnia with lower risk of side effects.
Aside from this, future focus should involve the incorporation of more biomarker analysis, in particular pharmacogenomics, to determine genetic factors moderating response to herbal medicines.
Sarris J · Phytotherapy research : PTR (2018)
Other encouraging herbal medicines with preliminary evidence include Curcuma longa (turmeric) in depression, Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) in affective disorders, and Ginkgo biloba (ginkgo) as an adjunctive treatment in Schizophrenia.
Although depression and anxiety are commonly researched, many other mental disorders still require further prospective investigation.
Although the previous review suggested increasing the adjunctive study of select herbal medicines with pharmaceuticals, this was still only found to sparingly occur in research designs.
However, well-designed larger clinical trials are needed before these herbs can be recommended and to further assess their psycho-oncologic relevance.
Yeung KS et al. · Phytotherapy research : PTR (2018)
Overall, 45% of studies reported positive findings with fewer adverse effects compared with conventional medications.
Based on available data, black cohosh, chamomile, chasteberry, lavender, passionflower, and saffron appear useful in mitigating anxiety or depression with favorable risk-benefit profiles compared to standard treatments.
These may benefit cancer patients by minimizing medication load and accompanying side effects.
Collectively, the literature reveals preclinical and clinical evidence for various phytomedicines modulating GABA-pathways, with comparative anxiolytic effect to the current array of pharmaceuticals, along with good safety and tolerability profiles.
Savage K et al. · Phytotherapy research : PTR (2018)
An open-ended search to 5 July 2017 was conducted using MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, and Cochrane library online databases and performed in a stepped format from preclinical to clinical investigations.
Eligible studies must have had (a) in vitro evidence of GABA-modulating activity, (b) animal studies using anxiety models to test an anxiolytic effect, and (c) human clinical trials.
Ten phytomedicines were identified as having preclinical investigations showing interaction with the GABA system, in addition to human clinical trials: kava, valerian, pennywort, hops, chamomile, Ginkgo biloba, passionflower, ashwagandha, skullcap, and lemon balm.
13Anxiety and anxiety-related conditionsSystematic ReviewCited 98×n=2,619 · very large study2010
Based on the available evidence, it appears that nutritional and herbal supplementation is an effective method for treating anxiety and anxiety-related conditions without the risk of serious side effects.
Lakhan SE et al. · Nutrition journal (2010)
Huge benefit
← WorseNo effectBetter →
Of the randomized controlled trials reviewed, 71% (15 out of 21) showed a positive direction of evidence.
Based on the available evidence, it appears that nutritional and herbal supplementation is an effective method for treating anxiety and anxiety-related conditions without the risk of serious side effects.
There is the possibility that any positive effects seen could be due to a placebo effect, which may have a significant psychological impact on participants with mental disorders.
19Anxiety symptomsMeta-AnalysisCited 44×n=198 · medium study2007
RCTs examining the effectiveness of passiflora for anxiety are too few in number to permit any conclusions to be drawn.
Miyasaka LS et al. · The Cochrane database of systematic reviews (2007)
RCTs examining the effectiveness of passiflora for anxiety are too few in number to permit any conclusions to be drawn.
RCTs with larger samples that compare the effectiveness of passiflora with placebo and other types of medication, including antidepressants, are needed.
20Behavioral health conditions including anxiety, sleep disorders, and ADHDSystematic ReviewCited 11×2010
There is preliminary supportive evidence for valerian and inositol treatment of anxiety, but SJW and passionflower have achieved little research support.
Larzelere MM et al. · Primary care (2010)
There is preliminary supportive evidence for valerian and inositol treatment of anxiety, but SJW and passionflower have achieved little research support.
Melatonin is likely to be useful in treating delayed sleep phase, jet lag, or shift work, but there is little evidence for the benefit of valerian compared with placebo.
There are currently no evidence-supported CAM treatments for ADHD (zinc and omega-3 fatty acids are reviewed).