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Excessive exercise load can cause muscle soreness and fatigue, as well as inflammation and oxidative stress. Lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla; Lippia citriodora) is often used as a spice in tea or beverages. Its leaves are rich in polyphenols, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory bioactivities.

In the present study, we investigated whether supplementation with Planox® lemon verbena extract (LVE) could improve muscle damage and biochemical indicators after exhaustive exercise challenge.

All subjects (30 males and 30 females) underwent a double-blind trial and were randomly divided into a placebo group (0 mg/human/day) and an LVE supplement group (400 mg/human/day), with gender-equal distribution. All subjects started supplementation 10 days before exhaustive exercise and continued it until all tests were completed. Before the intervention, after the exhaustive exercise, and on the following 3 days, the participants underwent 12-minute Cooper running/walking; blood collection; assessments of pain, muscle stiffness, maximum jump heights, and isometric maximum muscle strength.

The results showed that supplementation with LVE effectively increased GPx and reduced CK, IL-6, 8-OHdG and muscle pain after the exhaustive exercise, but it had significant effect on strength recovery.

In summary, LVE is a safe and edible natural plant extract that can reduce muscle damage and soreness after exercise. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04742244.

Keywords: lemon verbena, oxidative stress, muscle injury, inflammation

In conclusion, the current study supplementation with lemon verbena extract containing polyphenols for 10 days effectively reduced muscle damage and oxidative stress after exhaustive exercise. The benefits on strength recovery need to be further explored. In addition, LVE increased antioxidant activity and reduced pain and muscle stiffness.