Chamomile

Chamomile is a small annual flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. It grows wild across Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, and is now cultivated commercially on every inhabited continent.

The part used medicinally and culinarily is the flower head — specifically the dried flowers, which concentrate the plant's active volatile oils and flavonoids. The flowers are harvested just as they reach full bloom, when their essential oil content is at its peak.

Key identifying features:

• Small white ray florets surrounding a hollow, domed yellow center — the hollow center distinguishes German from Roman chamomile
• Feathery, finely divided leaves with a fresh, faintly medicinal scent
• Strong apple-like fragrance when flowers are crushed
• Grows to 20–60 cm; thrives in disturbed soils, roadsides, and field margins
  

Chamomile's documented history begins in ancient Egypt, making it one of the oldest recorded medicinal plants in human history. Egyptian papyri describe the plant being used in cosmetic preparations and as an offering in religious ceremonies. It was among the herbs burned in the temples of the pharaohs.

Greek and Roman physicians — including Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder — wrote about chamomile extensively. Dioscorides recommended it for fevers and liver complaints in his first-century compendium De Materia Medica. Roman physicians applied it topically to skin and used infusions for digestion during military campaigns.

In northern Europe, it spread through monastic medicine. Benedictine monks cultivated it alongside other herbs in their healing gardens, and it became a standard remedy throughout the medieval period. The Anglo-Saxon herbal Lacnunga, written around the 10th century, lists chamomile as one of the nine sacred herbs.

Germany developed perhaps the deepest institutional relationship with the plant. By the 20th century, chamomile preparations were formally codified in German pharmaceutical standards. Today, Germany is one of the world's largest producers and consumers of chamomile, and the herb retains official approval for specific uses under the German Commission E monographs.

Chamomile's reputation rests on a surprisingly well-characterized set of active compounds — unusual for a herb whose use predates modern chemistry by millennia.

The key phytochemicals in the flower include:

• Apigenin — a flavonoid that binds to GABA-A receptors in the brain for calm. 
• Chamazulene — a terpenoid formed during distillation; responsible for the blue color of the essential oil and studied for its antioxidant properties
• Alpha-bisabolol — a sesquiterpene alcohol widely used in cosmetics for its skin-soothing properties
• Luteolin and quercetin — additional flavonoids with antioxidant activity
• Mucilaginous polysaccharides — contribute to its traditionally observed effect on the digestive lining

A 2009 randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology found that chamomile extract showed statistically significant effects on generalized anxiety symptoms compared to placebo over an eight-week period. It remains one of the few herbs to have undergone formal RCT investigation for this application. 

A separate long-term follow-up study by the same research group, published in Phytomedicine (2016), found that continued chamomile supplementation was associated with a lower rate of stress relapse compared to placebo over 26 weeks — an unusually long observation window for herbal research.

Chamomile crosses the line between food, medicine, and personal care more naturally than almost any other herb. Its uses span cultures, centuries, and industries.

As a drink:

• Dried flower tea — the most universal preparation; typically steeped 5–10 minutes in hot water
• Cold-infused chamomile water — lower bitterness, higher mucilage extraction
• Chamomile mixed with other nervine herbs (lemon balm, passionflower, lavender) in calming blends
• Culinary use in flavoring liqueurs, notably in some Italian digestifs and craft gins

As a herbal preparation:

• Standardized extract capsules 
• Tinctures — extracts used in herbalism for concentrated delivery
• Essential oil — used in aromatherapy and diluted for topical application
• Topical creams and gels — widely used in European pharmacy for skin

Chamomile is a rare thing in the world of herbal medicine: a plant whose traditional reputation has held up surprisingly well under scientific scrutiny. Ancient Egyptian priests, Roman army physicians, medieval monks, and German pharmacists all reached for the same small white flower — and modern researchers have begun to understand why.

Its value lies in a well-characterized set of active compounds, particularly apigenin and chamazulene, that have been studied across multiple clinical settings. It is gentle enough for everyday use, robust enough to have earned regulatory approval in Germany, and versatile enough to appear in teas, capsules, essential oils, and skin creams without any contradiction.

• Learn the Herbs: Chamomile
• Chamomile Flower Tea: A Perfect Ending to a Long Day