10 Top Benefits Of Blue Butterfly Pea Flower (Aparajita | Sangu Poo)

What Is Blue Butterfly Pea Flower?

It is a beautiful blue coloured flower that grows in a creeper. You will find this plant in many Indian homes as it is used in poojas and prayers. It also grows wildly and needs little maintenance, the butterfly pea plant in the above picture was growing wildly in our farm.

This beautiful creeper has wonderful medicinal uses and especially it’s use in enhancing the memory and reducing stress is very popular. Scientific studies have been done extensively on this amazing plant and many of it’s traditional uses have been proven. All parts of the plant including the leaves, seeds, roots and flowers have medicinal properties.

The root extract acts as a mild sedative and calms down the central nervous system so it can be used as an anti depressant and anti stress medicine. Many confuse Clitoria ternatea with shankhpushpi even I did at first but the true shankhpushpi is Convolvulus pluricaulis.

Blue Butterfly Pea Botanical & Common Names:

The botanical name of blue butterfly pea plant is Clitoria ternatea. The plant is a climber and it belongs to the family Fabacea and genus Clitoria. Butterfly pea flower is called Sangu Pushpam or Sangu Poo in Tamil, Aparajita in Hindi and Bengali, Anchan in Thai, Blue Pea Flower in English and Bunga Telang in Malay. In Malaysia, Thailand and Burma, the flowers are used to color the rice while cooking.

10 Top Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Benefits & Medicinal Uses:

1. Antioxidant Properties:

2. Anti Glycation Properties:

3. Anti Inflammatory Properties:

4. Prevents Fatigue:

5. Analgesic Properties:

6. Anti Diabetic Properties:

This tea is amazing for diabetic patients as it helps regulate blood sugar levels. A cup of blue butterfly tea taken in between meals will help regulate blood sugar levels and will keep your blood sugar levels steady till the next meal. 

7. For Reducing Stress & Anxiety:

Butterfly pea has been used for reducing stress and anxiety from ancient times. If you are stressed or anxious and finding it difficult to sleep, try consuming blue butterfly tea regularly for a few days. It will help you relax and get a good night’s rest. It also helps improve brain function and memory. You can find the study that supports this claim here. 

8. Anti Asthmatic Properties:

9. For Hair & Skin:

10. Anti Ulcer Properties:

This tea has a soothing effect on our stomach and helps treat stomach ulcers. The whole plant extract has been used for treating ulcers traditionally but the tea made with the flowers also has anti ulcer properties.

This is due to presence of flavonoids in the flowers. If you are suffering from stomach ulcer, I would suggest taking this tea without adding any lemon juice.

How To Grow Blue Pea Flower At Home?

If you plan on having butterfly pea tea regularly, I would suggest growing your own butterfly pea plant at home. You can easily buy young butterfly pea plants in most nurseries cheaply in India and plant them in your garden.

It can survive in almost all types of soil but needs good drainage. You can also grow them from the seeds too. To plant butterfly pea seeds, soak butterfly pea seeds overnight in water and plant them in small pots next day and water regularly. The seeds will germinate in 2 to 3 weeks time.

Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Side Effects:

3 Top Ways To Use Blue Butterfly Pea Flowers

1.  Butterfly Pea Antioxidant Tea For Healthy Hair & Skin:

Boil water and pour over either fresh or dried flowers and sweeten with honey if you prefer. This butterfly pea tea contains significant amount of antioxidants and is great for healthy hair and skin. You can consume a cup of this tea even every day for long durations of time.

2.  Butterfly Pea Flower Benefits For Memory & Stress:

Boil a cup of water with 2 inch piece root of blue butter fly pea plant till it reduces in half and strain. This decoction is great for reducing stress and also acts as a mild sedative. The root extract also acts as a laxative.

3. Butterfly Pea Flower Benefits For Wound Healing:

The wound healing effects of the leaf extract also has been proven through scientific research. The leaf can be ground into fine paste and applied over any kinds of inflammation or infection. You can also boil the leaves in water and use it as wound wash too. The leaves have also anti fungal and anti bacterial properties and when applied externally can greatly reduce the infection.