The Effect of Passiflora foetida L. Leaves Decoction on Blood Pressure Profile and Its Correlation with the Demographics of Hypertensive Patients

Abstract

Passiflora foetida L. is an endemic herb species located in Kalimantan and is typically administered among the local population to maintain cardiovascular health. Previous studies examining its effectiveness remain limited. This study aimed to examine the effects of the P. foetida L. leaves decoction on adult blood pressure and its correlation with the demographics of hypertensive patients. A quasi-experiment was conducted by assigning the passion leaves decoction to 26 people randomly divided into two groups (13 individuals each) in two stages. The decoction was prepared by boiling 10 fresh cut leaves (6-7 g) in 400 mL water and letting half of the water volume evaporate. The decoction was freshly prepared daily for each respondent. The first group was administered the decoction at the initial stages of the study; while the second group was administered placebo. The treatment dose of 100 mL was administered twice (at 9 AM and 5 PM) for a period of seven days. The second stage was carried out three weeks following completion of the initial stage and placebo and decoction were administered to the first and second groups, respectively. Blood pressure data were analyzed using paired t-tests. The correlation between blood pressure and the demographics of hypertensive patients was analyzed using Kendall's Tau-b and Spearman's test. We demonstrated that the passion leaves decoction significantly reduced blood pressure in hypertensive patients (p<0.01). The decoction was shown to improve the blood pressure profile of hypertensive patients, reducing the number of hypertensive patients with second-degree hypertension prevalence from 57.69% to 7.69% and 30.77% to 7.69% for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively. Our findings also demonstrated that the decoction eliminated the correlation between age, occupation, body weight status, and blood pressure. The P. foetida leaves decoction can potentially be developed as an herbal tea to maintain blood pressure among hypertensive patients across the globe.