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Passionflower
A plant with an EMA monograph as a traditional herbal medicine for mild mental stress and sleep, and no authorised food claim. It sits in one formula, Sleep & circadian rhythm, at 500 mg. It is also the ingredient that sets when that formula is reviewed: the monograph says that if your symptoms last longer than two weeks, you should see a doctor.
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
Nothing. There is no authorised claim.
Passionflower has no authorised health claim under Regulation (EU) 432/2012. Most botanical claims sit on the European Commission's on-hold list, where they have waited since 2010 for an EFSA assessment. Until something is authorised, we make no health claim for passionflower, and you will not find one on this page.Passionflower has no authorised health claim under Regulation (EU) 432/2012. Until something is authorised, we make no health claim for it.
Passionflower has no authorised claim for sleep or for anxiety, however often you read otherwise. The EMA monograph on file assesses it only on traditional use, for the relief of mild symptoms of mental stress and to help with sleep. That is a medicines assessment, not a food claim, and we do not borrow its wording for a food supplement. Our file rates the evidence B: small clinical trials in anxiety and sleep, and a good safety profile. In Sleep & circadian rhythm, the sleep claim comes from the melatonin next to it, not from the passionflower. That is a reason to include it, not a permission to promise anything.
WHAT WE USE
A dry extract, measured by its flavonoids.
Passionflower is a plant, and the part used is the aerial part, leaves, stems and flowers, so the choice is not between salts but between preparations. Our file credits its action to three flavonoids, chrysin, vitexin and isovitexin, which act on the brain's GABA-A receptors, probably at the same site benzodiazepines use. It describes an effect on anxiety without marked sedation at standard doses, a possible mild inhibition of the enzyme MAO and an action on adenosine receptors.
A dry extract standardised to its flavonoids, the preferred form in our file and the one named in the EU status we hold on file for passionflower.
Our form record lists it as stable in liquid and soluble in water, best kept between pH 5 and 7 and sensitive to light. The one drawback on file is the taste: an intense herbal flavour.
Dried leaf taken as an infusion, 1 to 2 g three times a day. The EMA monograph on file describes the powdered herb and several liquid extracts too. None of them is what we serve.
There is no authorised claim for any form of passionflower, so the form is not a claim argument and we do not use it as one. Our records do not describe the extract the same way: the form record says 3 to 5% flavonoids, the ingredient file at least 3.5% total flavonoids, expressed as vitexin. We have written both down rather than pick one. Our ingredient file also gives the flavonoids a half-life of about 3 to 7 hours, cleared through the liver and kidneys, but our pharmacokinetic record could not confirm either, and we have no figure for how much of it you absorb. The file is still a draft, pending review by a clinical professional.There is no authorised claim for any form of passionflower. Our two records give different specs for the extract, 3 to 5% or at least 3.5% flavonoids, and how you absorb and clear it is not confirmed. The file is still pending clinical review.
WHERE IT APPEARS
One of the twenty-nine carries passionflower.
It appears only in Sleep & circadian rhythm, a CORE formula served at night and away from your meal, next to melatonin, magnesium and L-theanine. The 500 mg it carries is the lowest effective dose on our dose record. It is also the ingredient that limits that formula: because the EMA monograph says to see a doctor if symptoms last longer than two weeks or get worse, the formula is reviewed at two weeks and used continuously for up to 28 days.
THE CEILING
No official limit. We work to the monograph dose.
EFSA has not set a tolerable upper intake level for passionflower, and the EMA monograph gives a dose, not a limit. Our file's rule is to work to the monograph dose and add the warnings specific to passionflower. Our records do not state that dose the same way: the ingredient file says 200 to 1,200 mg of extract a day, or 1 to 2 g of leaf as an infusion three times a day, while the monograph on file gives 0.5 to 2 g of powdered herb, one to four times a day. Those are different preparations, and we have written both down rather than convert one into the other. Sleep & circadian rhythm carries 500 mg, and it is the only formula that carries any. No limit is not the same as no risk.EFSA has not set an upper limit for passionflower. We work to the EMA monograph dose, and only one formula carries it, at 500 mg. No limit is not the same as no risk.
As a sedative, it never shares an eight-hour window with a stimulant such as caffeine, guarana, yerba mate, synephrine or yohimbine: the engine separates them by at least eight hours, or keeps only one if both need the same time of day. Its calming role overlaps with valerian, lemon balm, hops, chamomile, lavender and linden. And if your symptoms last longer than two weeks or get worse, the EMA monograph says to see a doctor or a qualified health professional.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding: contraindicated in our file, because a species of the same genus has shown an effect on the womb. Children under 12: not recommended, and the EMA monograph approves its use only from 12. Allergy to the plant: the one contraindication the EMA monograph on file names. Sleep & circadian rhythm, the formula that carries it, also excludes liver disease, autoimmune conditions and anticoagulant treatment with a vitamin K antagonist.
Liver disease: caution. Heart disease: caution, with rare reports of arrhythmia at high doses. Anticoagulants: caution. Psychiatric medication: caution, because the sedation adds up. Kidney disease: no contraindication. Cancer: there is no data. Side effects on file: drowsiness, dizziness, mild confusion at high doses and occasional digestive upset. The label warnings on file: it may cause drowsiness, so do not drive after taking it; not recommended in pregnancy, breastfeeding or under 12; do not combine it with sedatives or alcohol. It contains none of the allergens the EU requires on a label.
WHAT IT REACTS WITH
Nine documented pairs. Five of them are complementary.
Passionflower is one of the 140 ingredients in our library, so it has 139 possible partners. We have documented 9 of them so far, out of the 443 pairs on file. Five are complementary: melatonin and magnesium, which it shares a formula with, plus GABA, valerian and 5-HTP. Four come down to your gut: charcoal, clay and fibre reduce how much of it you absorb. Caffeine and other stimulants fall under a separate rule: never within eight hours of a sedative.
Activated charcoal binds its active compounds and is rated high severity: never in the same dose, at least 3 hours apart, and at night the charcoal goes at least 3 hours before. White clay, konjac glucomannan and psyllium husk can reduce how much of it you absorb, rated medium, so they are kept at least 2 hours apart; the psyllium pair rests on weaker evidence.
Our table marks all five as combinable, at low severity. With melatonin it works by a separate route, one on the calming receptors and the other on the body clock. With magnesium, GABA and valerian, the effects on the same calming receptors add up. With 5-HTP the routes differ, and our table records no relevant serotonin risk. Our file also flags L-theanine, which shares Sleep & circadian rhythm with it, and lemon balm, hops, chamomile and lavender as complementary. None of those is entered as a pair yet.
Benzodiazepines, other sedatives, opioids and alcohol: its sedation adds to theirs, rated moderate. MAO inhibitors: a mild, theoretical addition, on preliminary evidence. Anticoagulants: limited data, rated mild. If you have surgery coming, tell your doctor: our file advises stopping it one to two weeks before a general anaesthetic.
None of passionflower's medication interactions is in our drug table yet: the warnings above come from its own file, not from a checked pair. Our pharmacokinetic record carries a note that it may weakly modulate CYP3A4, a liver enzyme that clears many medicines, but its sources could not confirm it. Across the library, 443 of the 9,730 possible pairs are documented, which is 4.55%, and nine of them involve passionflower. The rest are not "safe", they are simply unchecked, and we would rather write that down than let the number look like a badge.None of passionflower's medication interactions is in our drug table yet. 443 of the 9,730 possible pairs are documented, which is 4.55%, and nine involve passionflower. The rest are not safe, they are simply unchecked.
SOURCES
Everything on this page, with its reference.
Reviewed by VION nutrition team · last reviewed 16 September 2026Read the introduction to Passionflower →
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