B. officinalis grows to a height of 60 centimetres (2 feet),[4] and is bristly or hairy all over the stems andleaves; the leaves arealternate,simple, and 5–15 cm (2–6 inches) long.
The flowers arecomplete,perfect with five narrow, triangular-pointedpetals.[4] Flowers are most often blue, although pink flowers are sometimes observed. White-flowered types are also cultivated. The blue flower is genetically dominant over the white flower.[5]
The flowers arise alongscorpioidcymes to form large floral displays with multiple flowers blooming simultaneously, suggesting that borage has a high degree ofgeitonogamy (intraplant pollination).[5]
It has an indeterminate growth habit. In temperate climates such as in the UK, its flowering season is relatively long, from June to September. In milder climates, borage blooms continuously for most of the year. It can be invasive.
It is native to theMediterranean region, and has naturalized in many other locales.[14] It grows satisfactorily in gardens in most of Europe, such as Ireland, Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom. It is not a perennial, but it remains in the garden from year to year by self-seeding.
In addition to the liver-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids found in the leaves and seed oil, the GermanFederal Institute for Risk Assessment has advised that honey from borage containspyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), transferred to the honey through pollen collected at borage plants, and advise that commercial honey production could select for raw honey with limited PA content to prevent contamination.[15]
A white-flowercultivarTwo blossoms: the younger one is pink, the older blue.
Traditionally, borage was cultivated for culinary and medicinal uses, although today, commercial cultivation is mainly as an oilseed.
Borage is used as either a fresh vegetable or a dried herb. As a fresh vegetable, borage, with acucumber-like taste, is often used in salads or as a garnish.[16]
The flower has a sweet, honey-like taste and is often used to decoratedesserts and cocktails,[16] sometimes frozen in ice cubes.[17]
Vegetable use of borage is common in Germany, in the Spanish regions ofAragón andNavarre, on the Greek island ofCrete, and in the northern Italian region ofLiguria.[18] Although often used in soups, one of the better known German borage recipes is theFrankfurt specialitygrüne Soße ("green sauce").
In Italy, borage is always eaten cooked, and is most commonly used to fillravioli in the regions ofCampania andLiguria.[18][19]
Borage is traditionally used as agarnish in thePimms Cupcocktail,[16] but is nowadays often replaced by a long sliver of cucumber peel or bymint. It is also one of the key botanicals inGilpin's Westmorland Extra Dry Gin. The author ofCups and their Customs notes that a sprig or two of borage "communicates a peculiar refreshing flavour" to any cool drink.[24]
InPersian cuisine, borage tea (using the dried purple flowers) is called گل گاوزبان :gol gâvzabân, "cow's-tongue-flower".[25]
Francis Bacon thought that borage had "an excellent spirit to repress the fuliginous vapour of dusky melancholie".[34]
John Gerard'sHerball mentions an old verse concerning the plant: "Ego Borago, Gaudia semper ago (I, Borage, bring always joys)". He asserts:
Those of our time do use the flowers in salads to exhilerate and make the mind glad. There be also many things made of these used everywhere for the comfort of the heart, for the driving away of sorrow and increasing the joy of the mind. The leaves and flowers of Borage put into wine make men and women glad and merry and drive away all sadness, dullness and melancholy, as Dioscorides and Pliny affirm. Syrup made of the flowers of Borage comfort the heart, purge melancholy and quiet the frantic and lunatic person. The leaves eaten raw engender good blood, especially in those that have been lately sick.[34]
^abMontaner, C.; Floris, E.; Alvarez, J. M. (February 2001). "Geitonogamy: a mechanism responsible for high selfing rates in borage (Borago officinalis L.)".Theoretical and Applied Genetics.102 (2–3):375–378.doi:10.1007/s001220051656.S2CID26250534.
^Dodson, Craig D.; Stermitz, Frank R. (1986). "Pyrrolizidine alkaloids from borage (Borago officinalis) seeds and flowers".Journal of Natural Products.49 (4):727–728.Bibcode:1986JNAtP..49..727D.doi:10.1021/np50046a045.
^Parvais, O.; Vander Stricht, B.; Vanhaelen-Fastre, R.; Vanhaelen, M. (1994). "TLC detection of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in oil extracted from the seeds of Borago officinalis".Journal of Planar Chromatography--Modern TLC.7 (1):80–82.
^Wretensjoe, Inger; Karlberg, Bo. (2003). "Pyrrolizidine alkaloid content in crude and processed borage oil from different processing stages".Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society.80 (10):963–970.doi:10.1007/s11746-003-0804-z.S2CID94575246.
^Awang V. C. (1999). Eskinazi D. (ed.).Botanical Medicine: The Information Base for safety assessment of Botanicals.
^Langer T.; Franz Ch. (1997). "Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in commercial samples of borage seed oil products by GC-MS".Scientia Pharmaceutica.65 (4):321–328.
^Gilani A.H., Bashir S., Khan A.-u. "Pharmacological basis for the use of Borago officinalis in gastrointestinal, respiratory and cardiovascular disorders",Journal of Ethnopharmacology 114 (3), pp 393–399, 2007.
^Gilani A.H. "Focused Conference Group: P16 - Natural products: Past and future? Pharmacological use of borago officinalis",Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology. Conference: 16th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. WorldPharma 2010 Copenhagen Denmark. Publication: (var. pagings). 107 (pp. 301), 2010. Date of Publication: July 2010.
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