What is it?
An extract of the leaves of vervain, Verbena officinalis, also called common vervain, a flowering herb in the verbena family (Verbenaceae) that grows in many parts of the world. It has long been used in folk medicine, including traditional Chinese medicine, and the dried herb is described in the European and Chinese pharmacopoeias. Vervain is also used in foods and cosmetics, in part for its pleasant scent.
Key information
- Vervain has had a monograph in the European Pharmacopoeia since 2008 and in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia since 1995.
- An aqueous extract of vervain leaves was mutagenic in bacterial tests but caused no chromosome damage in the bone marrow of rats given up to 2,000 mg/kg a day for three days.
- In a rat study, high oral doses of vervain extract during pregnancy harmed fetal development, mainly at 2,000 and 3,000 mg/kg a day.
- We found no safety review of vervain leaf extract by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review or the EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety.
More information
Vervain is a rich source of iridoids, phenylpropanoid glycosides, phenolic acids, flavonoids and terpenoids, according to a 2020 review in Planta Medica. It has a long history in folk medicine in many countries, and monographs on the dried herb have been included in the European Pharmacopoeia since 2008 and the Chinese Pharmacopoeia since 1995. The review also describes its use in the food and cosmetics industries.
The safety studies we found tested vervain taken by mouth, not applied to skin. In a 2019 study, an aqueous extract of the leaves caused mutations in two strains of bacteria (the Ames test), but rats given up to 2,000 mg/kg a day for three days showed no increase in chromosome damage in their bone marrow. A second study by the same group gave pregnant rats 500 to 3,000 mg/kg of vervain extract daily and found lower fetal weights, more pregnancy losses and incomplete bone formation, with the skeletal effects seen at the two highest doses; the authors concluded that vervain should not be used during pregnancy. Those were large oral doses, and we found no data on how much vervain passes through skin.
On the skin, the only report we found is a 1994 case of allergic contact dermatitis from vervain in a middle-aged woman, published in the journal Contact Dermatitis. Vervain leaf extract has not been reviewed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) or the EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, and we found no published skin irritation or allergy tests of the extract. On labels it appears as Verbena Officinalis Leaf Extract.
Sources: Planta Medica (2020): Verbena officinalis (common vervain), a review on the investigations of this medicinally important plant species; Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2019): Mutagenicity and genotoxicity effects of Verbena officinalis leaves extract in Sprague-Dawley rats; Chemico-Biological Interactions (2019): Prenatal developmental toxicity evaluation of Verbena officinalis during gestation period in female Sprague-Dawley rats; Contact Dermatitis (1994): Allergic contact dermatitis from Verbena officinalis L.
