CORNFLOWER
CENTAUREA CYANUS FLOWER WATER
ORIGINS
Cornflower floral water possesses soothing, astringent and decongestant virtues. Its beneficial properties for the eyelids and fragile eye contours have led it to be nicknamed in French “Casse-lunettes” (“breaker of glasses”). The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties (1) of the blue centaurea, its other name, have been demonstrated by different pharmacological studies: the polysaccharides present in the flower head modulate immunity.
The steam distillation of Cornflower does not allow for the extraction of an essential oil but only of a liquid with a density close to that of water, called hydrolat, or flower water.
(1) Escher GB, Santos JS, Rosso ND, Marques MB, Azevedo L, do Carmo MAV et al. Chemical study, antioxidant, anti-hypertensive, and cytotoxic/cytoprotective activities of Centaurea cyanus L. petals aqueous extract. Food Chem Toxicol. 2018 Aug;118:439-453.
(2) Garbacki N, Gloaguen V, Damas J, Bodart P, Tits M, Angenot L. Anti-inflammatory and immunological effects of Centaurea cyanus flower-heads. J Ethnopharmacol. 1999 Dec 15;68(1-3):235-41.
