Valerian

Description:
Valerian root is easy to recognize on the smell: it is very strong, woody, slightly sour and unpleasant and even nauseous to most. This is also evident in pills containing root extract. You always know if there is Valerian in there!
Botanically, however, Valerian is a bit confusing. There are several species that look VERY similar. But there is no need to worry about that; if you want to harvest your own Valerian, simply buy seeds and grow it in your garden. Should you harvest in the wild, and pick a wrong species, it's not too bad either; the other species contain pretty much the same stuff as V. officinalis, but the latter is considered stronger. However, none of the Valerians are very common anymore, so if you see them in the wild, enjoy their pretty flowers and leave it at that.

If you have Valerian in your garden and want to harvest the root, cut off any flowers before they develop, so that all the energy will be concentrated on producing the rhizome. I've never actually tried digging up and drying Valerian root, but I can imagine it must be an unpleasant affair. Just keeping the dried root can be difficult, you need a very tight-closing container of some sort, unless you want the smell to hang all over the room.

So why bother with Valerian if it is so smelly? Simply because it's a wonderful sedative and hypnotic. It improves sleep quality and reduces the time taken to fall asleep. It's mild, but none the less effective (although the degree of the effect varies from person to person). It's not addictive, and you may take it even if you have had a glass or two. There are no side-effects, you don't build up tolerance to it, and I don't think anyone ever overdosed on Valerian. You may experience some side-effects if you take it over a long period of time - but then, that goes for almost everything.

If you are stressed, Valerian can help - and if you have problems with your loved one, discuss it over a cup of Valerian tea - this will prevent raised voices and invoke love and romance.

Some of the active ingredients in Valerian root are contained in the essential oil, but also the valepotriates are thought to have sedative activity. The valepotriates are highly unstable compounds, but as the degradation products have an even higher activity it doesn't really matter.

Valerian root extract is also used to flavour foods, especially sweets and drinks. It is used in creams for the treatment of eczema.

The essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the rhizomes. It is a base note. It's not that much used in aromatherapy on its own, because of the strong scent - most people just don't like it. In blends, it's fine though. The powdered root can also be used in incense mixtures.

The scent of the flowers is totally unlike that of the root! The flowers smell a bit like jasmine, very sweet.

The scent blends well with: cedarwood, lavender, musk seeds, oakmoss, patchouli, pine, rosemary, vetiver.