Mo Li Hua
StarJasminum sambac (L.) Aiton
Traditionally used for
- Eye health
- Digestion
- Sleep
Cautions & contraindications
- Breastfeeding
☯ TCM Properties
Courses the Liver and Resolves Constraint; Harmonizes the Spleen and Stomach; Transforms Turbidity; Alleviates Pain; Clears Heat and Brightens the Eyes
Traditional Chinese Uses
Mo Li Hua (jasmine flower) is a warm, sweet-pungent herb used in Chinese medicine to move Qi, open the Stomach, and settle the Liver. It addresses Liver Qi stagnation with digestive symptoms — including bloating, abdominal pain, and poor appetite — and is used for the emotional and digestive disharmony of Liver-Spleen disharmony. As a fragrant, culinary-grade herb used extensively in jasmine tea, it represents the Chinese tradition of treating mood and digestion simultaneously through everyday consumption.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Jasminum sambac, commonly called Arabian jasmine or sampaguita, is an evergreen scrambling shrub or twining vine in the family Oleaceae, native to tropical South and Southeast Asia. It typically grows 1-3 meters, with slender, slightly hairy branches and opposite, ovate, glossy dark-green leaves 4-10 cm long with prominent venation. The intensely fragrant flowers are borne in small terminal or axillary cymes of three or more, each white, waxy, and 2-3 cm across, with a slender tubular corolla opening into five to nine spreading lobes; semi-double and double-flowered cultivars are widespread. Flowers open in the evening and release a sweet perfume. Fruit, rarely produced in cultivation, is a small purple-black berry. Dried buds are gathered as Mo Li Hua.
Active Constituents
Linalool
Acyclic monoterpene alcoholConcentration: one of the principal odour components of jasmine and of jasmine-scented tea
Linalool is the constituent with the best human evidence behind the calming reputation of the flower. Inhaled (R)-(-)-linalool, and the odour of jasmine tea containing it, reduced sympathetic nerve activity and shifted mood states towards calm in healthy volunteers. The effect is an odour-mediated autonomic one, not an effect of an ingested dose.
Benzyl acetate
Aromatic esterConcentration: 3.08 to 6.18 percent of the flower extracts profiled by GC-MS
Benzyl acetate carries the characteristic jasmine note and is one of the main volatiles recovered from the flower by enfleurage and supercritical fluid extraction.
Citronellol
Acyclic monoterpene alcoholConcentration: 5.37 to 8.94 percent of the flower extracts profiled by GC-MS
A major aroma alcohol of the flower extract, contributing to the rose-like facet of the jasmine odour profile.
Jasminolactone
LactoneConcentration: 15.53 to 19.29 percent of the flower extracts profiled by GC-MS
Quantitatively one of the largest single components recovered from Jasminum sambac flower extracts in that analysis, and a principal contributor to the odour.
cis-Jasmone
CyclopentanoneConcentration: 1.2 to 2.64 percent of the flower extracts profiled by GC-MS
A characteristic jasmine ketone; present in small amounts but disproportionately important to the odour.
Sambacoside A
Oligomeric secoiridoid glycosideOne of the non-volatile constituents that survives into a water or methanol extract of the flower. Given orally at 12.5 to 25 mg/kg it was hepatoprotective in mice with D-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide induced liver injury.
Molihuasides C and D
Oligomeric secoiridoid glycosidesSecoiridoid dimers named after the Chinese name of the drug. Like sambacoside A they showed hepatoprotective effects at 12.5 to 25 mg/kg orally in the D-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide mouse model.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Bromocriptine, cabergoline and other dopamine agonists used to suppress lactation
In a controlled trial in postpartum women, Jasminum sambac flowers applied to the breasts and bromocriptine both produced significant falls in serum prolactin. The fall was larger with bromocriptine, but breast engorgement, milk production and analgesic use improved equally with either, and failure rates were comparable; rebound lactation occurred only in the bromocriptine arm. The flower therefore has a genuine, clinically demonstrated lactifuge effect, so combining it with a pharmacological lactation suppressant stacks two active agents.
Clinical note: Do not prescribe Mo Li Hua, including as jasmine tea taken in quantity or as a topical flower application, to a breastfeeding woman who intends to continue nursing. Where lactation suppression is the goal, it is an option in its own right and does not need to be added to a dopamine agonist.
Benzodiazepines, sedating antihistamines and alcohol
Inhaled jasmine tea odour and its component (R)-(-)-linalool reduced sympathetic nerve activity and produced calmer mood states in healthy volunteers. No interaction study with sedative drugs exists, and the human data are for odour exposure rather than an ingested herb dose, so this is an inference from the pharmacology and not an observed interaction.
Clinical note: No action needed for ordinary culinary or decoction use. Mention it only if a patient is using concentrated jasmine essential oil alongside sedating medication.
Evidence Tier
Strong evidence · 4 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
3
0 verified · 3 unverified
Show 3 studies
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Suppression of Puerperal Lactation Using Jasmine Flowers (Jasminum Sambac)
Postpartum women were allocated to jasmine flowers applied to the breasts or to bromocriptine, with serum prolactin, breast engorgement, milk production and analgesic intake as endpoints. Both reduced serum prolactin significantly, with a greater fall under bromocriptine, but the two were equally effective on the clinical measures and had similar failure rates, and rebound lactation occurred in a small proportion of the bromocriptine group only. The authors concluded jasmine flowers are an effective and inexpensive alternative where bromocriptine is unaffordable or unavailable. This is the single most clinically consequential finding for the species and the basis for the breastfeeding caution.
Sedative effects of the jasmine tea odor and (R)-(−)-linalool, one of its major odor components, on autonomic nerve activity and mood states
Healthy volunteers were exposed to the odour of jasmine tea, which is green tea scented with Jasminum sambac flowers, and to its component (R)-(−)-linalool. Both reduced autonomic sympathetic activity and produced calmer mood states relative to control odour conditions. The exposure was olfactory rather than oral, so the result supports the traditional use of the flower to relieve constraint by way of its aroma rather than establishing a systemic drug effect.
Oligomeric secoiridoid glycosides with hepatoprotective activity from the flowers of Jasminum sambac (L.) Aiton
A methanol extract of Jasminum sambac flowers protected mice against D-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide induced liver injury. Five previously undescribed oligomeric secoiridoid glycosides, jasminumosides A to E, were isolated alongside nineteen known compounds, and sambacoside A and molihuasides C and D showed hepatoprotective activity at 12.5 to 25 mg/kg given orally. The work identifies the non-volatile constituents of the flower, which are what a decoction actually delivers, in contrast with the volatile-oil literature.
Efficacy and mechanism of Jasminum sambac gel for musculoskeletal injuries
A double-blind randomised study in 380 patients with grade 1 and 2 musculoskeletal injuries compared a 10 percent Jasminum sambac gel with 2 percent diclofenac diethylammonium gel, each applied either with phonophoresis or by superficial massage. The jasmine gel outperformed diclofenac on the numeric pain rating scale and on WOMAC pain, stiffness and activities of daily living. Two cautions apply: the gel was made from a leaf extract, not from the flower that constitutes the drug Mo Li Hua, and it was applied topically rather than taken internally, so the result does not transfer to the flower decoction.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynasty, 1596Sui Xi Ju Yin Shi Pu
Qing dynasty, 1861Ben Cao Zai Xin
Qing dynastyYin Pian Xin Can
Republican period, 1936References
- Inoue N, Manse Y, Morikawa T. Jasminumosides F–K, oligomeric secoiridoid glycosides from jasmin: the flowers of Jasminum sambac (L.) Aiton . Journal of Natural Medicines (2026) [DOI]
- Wu LC, Lin CL, Peng CC, Huang TL, Tsai TH, Kuan YE, Chung YC. Development from Jasminum sambac Flower Extracts of Products with Floral Fragrance and Multiple Physiological Activities . Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2021) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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