Calendula EO
Antifungal activity from Brazilian Grown
Calendula oil is distilled from the petals of the pot marigold (Calendula Officinalis), a species of flower native to southern Europe, but which grows well further north in even the poorest of soils.
Description: This is distilled from the flower tops, and it is quite sticky, and viscous. It smells very strange – musky, woody, rotten even, rather like the flowers themselves. This smell does not appeal to many people, even when it is used in a remedy.
The principal constituents: Flavinoids, saponosene, triterpenic alcohol and a bitter principle.
ITS USES
In illness
The properties attributed to calendula oil are tonic, sudorific, emmenagogic and antispasmodic, but it is mainly used dermatologically. It is useful for very sensitive skin, and to help heal the scars of those who have had very bad acne. It is very calming, even in the smallest proportions, mixed with other oils. You also use it for burns, mixing a little into a calming lotion. Very little oil is needed in any prepara¬tion. Dried marigold infusions make good toners, and good calmers for the itchy eyes of hay fever. A tisane could help PMT. Some oil in a parsley compress is good for broken capillaries. A drop of calendula oil in a bath is good for psoriasis.
(See also abdominal pain, bruises, cold sores, cuts and wounds, der¬matitis, dysmenorrhoea, ear problems, frostbite and impetigo.)
In cookery
Marigold petals have been used as the poor man’s saffron to colour cheeses, butters and dishes since the Middle Ages. The Elizabethans would use both petals and leaves in salads (although the latter are very strong). The petals flavour soups and stews, and they can be crystallized.
Other uses
Marigold has long been used as a dye, and the dried petals can be included in pot-pourris.