Butterfly Pea Flower: 11 Benefits, How to Prepare & Side Effects
Butterfly pea, or Clitoria ternatea, is also known under the names blue pea, Asian pigeonwings, and bluebellvine. The plant has gained a lot of popularity over the recent years due to its distinct blue colour and many potential health benefits.
The taste of butterfly pea flower tea is often described as bland umami with a flavour of grass, but some people find it tastes like pea water, while others find the taste very similar to cardboard.
Why do people drink it?
If it tastes so bad, why is this tea so extremely popular these days? There are two main reasons for this:
Instagram-worthiness
Health benefits
Butterfly pea flower beverages have a very impressive blue colour, that can change depending on the acidity level. Whether you use the flower to colour your beverage, or to make impressive blue ice cubes, it really takes your pictures to the next level.
But the real reason butterfly pea flower beverages are so popular, is that blue pea tea has many potential health benefits.
Butterfly pea flower benefits
Potential benefits of butterfly pea flower include: weight loss promotion, anti-ageing, stimulating hair growth, and boosting brain health. It almost sounds like this tea could turn you into a “Homo Sapiens Superior", if only you could survive the taste.
Let’s investigate the different potential health benefits of butterfly pea flower and see if there is any serious science to back up the claims.
One of the most important reasons why people like to drink butterfly pea flower tea so much, is to support their weight loss efforts.
One promising in-vitro study from 2019, claims that butterfly pea flower extract can slow the formation of new fat cells (1).
Butterfly pea flower extract contains many compounds that could possibly support weight loss, including ternatins (2). Some studies even refer to ternatins as fat accumulation inhibitors (3).
One in-vitro study from 2009 showed that a specific form of ternatin could inhibit differentiation of fat cells (4). In addition, the protein also showed potential to inhibit the synthesis of triglycerides.
Before you get too enthusiastic about this, please keep in mind that these studies were done on cultured cells and more research is necessary to confirm if this also works in vivo.
Butterfly pea flower extracts have been used for hundreds of years in Southeast Asia for the treatment of hair loss.
Until recently, there was basically no scientific research to back up the claims that blue pea extract can promote hair growth.
Recently we got some scientific confirmation that butterfly pea flower extract can be effectively used against hair loss.
One scientific study claims that the extract used, could stimulate initial hair growth in mice, similar to minoxidil (5).
It must be noted though, that the extract was not able to significantly prolong the anagen phase of the hair cycle.
There are many DIY recipes circulating, on how to use butterfly pea flower on your hair.
One easy method is to use a cup of (cooled down) blue pea tea as hair rinse, after washing your hair.
Another popular recipe is to make a cup of butterfly pea flower tea, then add either rosemary water or your favourite hair oil, put into a spray bottle, shake and use to spray on your hair.
Butterfly pea contains many antioxidants, including anthocyanins (6). These compounds are commonly found in many "health foods", including blueberries, pomegranates and other berries, red cabbage etc (7).
Research suggests that anthocyanins could have many potential health benefits, including (8):
prevention of cardiovascular disease
anticancer effects
diabetes prevention
visual health
antimicrobial effects
anti-obesity effects
Having that said, there are many types of anthocyanins, each with their specific characteristics. The ones present in butterfly pea flower are mostly different types of Delphinidin and Cyanidin (9), which includes:
Delphinidin-3-(6″-p-coumaroyl)-rutinoside
Cyanidin 3-(6″-p-coumaroyl)-rutinoside
Delphinidin-3-(cis-p-coumaroyl-glucoside)
Delphinidin-3-(trans-p-coumaroyl-glucoside)
Cyanidin-3-(p-coumaroyl)glucose
Delphinidin-3-pyranoside
The specific anthocyanins found in the butterfly pea flower, are not that well researched, and their health effect are still mostly unclear.
At the moment, there is nowhere near enough scientific evidence that blue pea tea can really support your immune system. All I could find was this:
There is one study, which claims that an anthocyanin, also found in butterfly pea flower, could inhibit certain immune checkpoints. This in turn activated the immune response and induced cancer cell death (10).
Some of the components in butterfly pea flower could have anti-cancer effects.
As mentioned above, one anthocyanin, which is also found in the butterfly pea, could activate the immune response and induce cell death in colorectal cancer cells (11). At least, this is what we find in this in vitro study.
Kaempferol, a phenolic compound also present in the butterfly pea flower (12), also is potentially also effective at cancer prevention (13).
One scientific review from 2019, explores the anti-cancer properties of kaempferol in a lot of detail (14).
Not only drinking, but also applying butterfly pea flower extracts topically, could be very good for your skin.
One recent study, claims that blue pea flower extract promotes skin hydration and at the same time, reduces trans-epidermal water loss (15).
The same study also claimed that butterfly pea extract can inhibit collagenase activity. Collagenase is an enzyme that breaks down collagen, so inhibiting this enzyme could have significant anti-aging benefits for the skin.
In addition, blue pea extracts contain many antioxidants (discussed above). These antioxidants could help protect cells from oxidative stress and promote healthy skin.
Butterfly pea is possibly useful for stabilising blood sugar levels.
One small study with just 15 people, claims that consuming butterfly pea extract reduces postprandial glucose and insulin levels (16). Postprandial blood sugar is basically the level of glucose in your blood after consuming a meal.
The combination of high blood sugar and age, can lead to something called advanced glycation end products. This is linked to many diabetic complications, as well as other, often age related, human diseases (17).
One in vitro study found that butterfly pea extract has anti-glycation activity and could be useful for the prevention of some diabetic complications (18).
In addition, an animal study performed on diabetic rats, strongly suggests that butterfly pea extract has anti-diabetic activity and can reduce serum glucose levels (19).
The butterfly pea flower contains many antioxidants, some of which likely have anti-inflammatory properties.
One study from 2015, claims that butterfly pea flower showed anti-inflammatory properties in vitro (20). The researchers even suggest that the flower could be used for development of drugs for protection against chronic anti-inflammatory diseases.
Blue pea also contains p-coumaric acid (21). This compound has many potential beneficial effects, including anti-inflammatory properties (22).
There is very little scientific evidence to support this, but there are indications that butterfly pea flower may have benefits for visual health.
As mentioned above, blue pea flower contains many antioxidants of a certain type, called anthocyanins. Interestingly, many of the anthocyanins in butterfly pea are very similar to those found in blackcurrant (23).
One study investigated the effects of blackcurrant anthocyanins on glaucoma patients, and found that the compounds were able to increase blood flow to the eyes (24). The participants took a supplement containing these compounds once daily, for a period of 24 months.
Blue pea flower is widely used in Ayurveda as a brain tonic to enhance memory.
One animal study from the year 2000, claims that some blue pea extracts can enhance memory retention in rats (25). The study also suggests that these extracts could increase acetylcholine content in the brain.
A more recent animal study claims that a certain blue pea extract, can help protect the brain against diabetes induced cognitive decline (26).
Butterfly pea possibly has antimicrobial effects. The plant likely developed these antimicrobial properties as a mechanism to defend itself against organisms that were attacking it (27).
Scientists have identified a protein in blue pea, that has anti-fungal activity against several different strains of yeasts (28).
Studies show that some blue pea extracts can have antibacterial effects as well (29, 30).
Does butterfly pea tea have caffeine?
Butterfly pea tea does not contain caffeine, in fact a lot of people use it as a caffeine-free alternative to coffee. One very popular way to do that is to make blue pea tea latte.
Safety and side effects
Butterfly pea flower is generally considered safe for most people, when consumed in moderation. Possible side effects of blue pea include:
stomach upset
nausea
stomach pain
low blood pressure
However, it may not be safe for everyone. People with underlying health problems, and people taking medications, should consult with their healthcare provider before consuming this flower in any form.
Blue pea flower is possibly unsafe during pregnancy.
There is not enough research to confirm if this ingredient is safe for children.
How to make butterfly pea flower tea
The easiest way to use blue pea flowers is to make tea out of them. Here is a simple, basic recipe for blue pea tea:
Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers
boiling water (around 1-2 cups)
Directions:
Add the flowers to a teapot or cup.
Boil some water, and then pour the hot water over the flowers.
Steep for approximately 5-10 minutes.
Strain from the flowers, and your tea is ready!
Recipe notes:
As mentioned above, blue pea flower tea is not particularly tasty. So you may want to add other herbs or teas to the water to give it a more pleasant taste.
Using more flowers per cup, results in a more saturated colour.
Colour-changing tea
One interesting property of butterfly pea flower tea is its ability to change colour, depending on the acidity of the water.
Adding something acidic like lemon, shifts the colour of the beverage more towards pink or red. On the other side, adding something basic like baking soda, could shift the colour more towards green or brown.
The table below gives an overview of how the colour of blue pea tea changes, depending on the pH: