Marigold

Authors:Prof. Dr. med. Peter Altmeyer, Prof. Dr. med. Martina Bacharach-Buhles

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Last updated on: 30.03.2023

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Synonym(s)

Calendula; Garden Marigold; Goldflower; Marigold; officinal calendula

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DefinitionThis section has been translated automatically.

Marigolds grow to a height of 30 to 50 cm, have a branched, downy-haired stem with elongated, felty-haired leaves and large, orange flower heads. Flowering time June to September.

The flowers (marigold flowers - Calendulae flos) are used phytotherapeutically.


The drug on the market is mainly imported from Poland, Hungary and Egypt.

IngredientsThis section has been translated automatically.

Marigold flowers contain flavonoids, triterpene alcohols, triterpene saponins, carotenoids, polysaccharides and essential oil.

OccurrenceThis section has been translated automatically.

Origin and distribution: Southern and Eastern Europe, Near East. Home is probably the Mediterranean area.

Field of application/useThis section has been translated automatically.

The garden marigold is an old medicinal plant from the family of the daisies. The garden marigold is a parent plant of Calendula offcinalis and of Flores Calendulae (marigold flowers).

Herba calendulae, the marigold herb has a similar effect to Flores calendulae.

Systemic use: In general, extracts of calendula are only used internally to a small extent due to their spasmolytic, choleretic and diaphoretic effects.

External use: Ready-made preparations for gargling, rinsing and as tea as well as healing ointments, wound tinctures, wound powder, haemorrhoidal ointments, gingivitis and ulcer preparations justify their use on the basis of their anti-inflammatory and granulation-promoting effect.

Recently, the garden marigold has again been promoted in many organic and natural cosmetics books.

Undesirable effectsThis section has been translated automatically.

Allergological information: Allergens unknown. Possibly the sesquiterpenlakton Calendin, not yet identified in the structure, plays a role. Sensitizing potency: Weak. Frequency of sensitization: Rare (but recently more frequently observed).

Clinical pictureThis section has been translated automatically.

Clinical manifestation: The experimentally proven weak sensitizing capacity of the garden marigold is in good agreement with the clear case descriptions of contact dermatitis in the literature.

A sesquiterpenlacton has been detected in the plant, the maximum content of which is indicated as 0.01%. Whether this plays an allergological role or perhaps one of the many other compounds identified, such as terpenes, saponins, flavonoids and essential oils (see Calendulae flos below), is still unclear.

Trade namesThis section has been translated automatically.

Befelka® Oil, Calendula, Calendumed, Cesrasanol®, Dr. Klinger's Bergische Bladder and Kidney Tea, Dr. Klinger's Liver and Gall Tea, Urine Tea 400, Kytta Ointment®, Lymphdiral® L Ointment, Kidney Tea, Phoenix Calophoen Ointment, Presselin®, Rheuma Tea Stada®, Calendula Healing Ointment, Unguentum lymphaticum, Wound Healing Ointment S

LiteratureThis section has been translated automatically.

  1. Goadsby PJ (2003) Herbal medicine. N Engl J Med 348: 1498-1501.
  2. Hausen BM, Vieluf K (1997) Allergy plants, plant allergens. Ecomed Verlag, Landsberg/Munich, pp. 85-87.
  3. https://arzneipflanzenlexikon.info/ringelblume.php.
  4. Wenigmann M. (2017) Phytotherapy medicinal drugs, phytopharmaceuticals, application. Urban & Fischer, pp. 179-180
  5. https://pflanzen.fnr.de/industrial-plants/medicinal-plants/pflanzen-datenbank.

Authors

Last updated on: 30.03.2023