Borage Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
| Borage | ||||||||||||||
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| Borago officinalis |
Borage Borago officinalis as an annual herb growing wild in Central and Eastern Europe. It can become up to one meter (3 feet) high, has small beautiful blue or pink flowers and is hairy all over. It produces plenty of seeds and thus continues to grow and spreads from where it is first sown or planted.
The leaves, which have been found to contain small amounts (10ppm in dried herb) of the liver-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids intermedine, lycopsamine, amabiline and supinine, tastes like fresh cucumber and are used in salads and soups especially in Germany. One of the more well known recipies with borage is the Green Sauce made in Frankfurt. Frankfurter Grüne Sauce as it is called in Germany is made from seven herbs: parsley, chervil, chives, cress, sorrel (Rumex acetosa), burnet (Sanguisorba minor) and borage.
The flower, which contain the non-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid thesinine, have a sweet honey-like taste and are often used to decorate deserts and dishes. If frozen into ice-cubes the flowers become exotic drink coolers.
Borage oil is a rich source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), a very rare essential fatty acid. As people age, their ability to create their own gamma-linolenic acid declines as their delta-6-desaturase declines, and so borage oil becomes a very valuable source for GLA for them.
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