Overlooking Akaroa harbour
Morena from the hills overlooking Akaroa harbour.
It has been a long hot summer and even now we enter winter with very dry soils. This is reflected in our harvest, which while still good for both Grosso and Pacific Blue, was down on our expectations.
Our Grosso and Pacific Blue is now all pruned and sits calmly overlooking the harbour as we head into an early winter.
Recent research clearly reveals how lavender chills us out — and why some day the medical profession might be prescribing patients a scent of our purple flowers.
A paper in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience shows for the first time that the vaporized lavender compound linalool must be smelt, to exert its calming effects, which in turn could be used to relieve preoperative stress and anxiety disorders.
The researchers concluded that the scent of linalool increased the amount of time that mice spent in open and lit areas. For both tests, mice spent nearly twice as much time in open and lighted space with the presence of the scent, opposed to the control tests with no the scent. Additionally, the study found that the dosage of linalool, also impacted time spent in open and lit areas.
Linalool is an aromatic chemical, usually appearing as a clear liquid, naturally found as a significant portion of lavender.
There is still some work needed to establish the targets, safety and efficacy of linalool. The clinical use of linalool to relieve anxiety, can help patients preparing for general anesthesia.
