Perilla is an herb in the mint family, native to Asia, where it has been used for centuries in cooking and traditional medicine. The plant comes in green, red (purple), and bicolored varieties, and different cultures know it by different names: shiso in Japan, kkaennip in Korea, and zi su in China. It’s grown for its aromatic leaves, which are eaten fresh or cooked, and for its seeds, which produce an oil exceptionally rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
The Plant and Its Varieties
Perilla (Perilla frutescens) is an annual herb that grows upright, with broad, sometimes ruffled leaves and square stems typical of the mint family. The species has two main botanical varieties. Var. crispa, commonly called shiso, has crinkled or serrated leaves and is the type most associated with Japanese cuisine. Var. frutescens, often called Korean perilla or wild perilla, tends to have larger, flatter, rounder leaves and is more commonly grown for both its leaves and its oil-rich seeds.
The plant displays three distinct color patterns. Green perilla has entirely green leaves and stems. Red or purple perilla is pigmented throughout. Bicolored types have green tops with purple undersides. These aren’t just cosmetic differences. The color reflects different concentrations of anthocyanins and other compounds, which affect both flavor and the plant’s chemical profile.
How It Tastes and How It’s Used in Cooking
Green shiso has a refreshing scent reminiscent of basil with hints of anise or mint. In Japanese cooking, it’s chopped finely to accompany chilled tofu or somen noodles in summer, used fresh in salads, or fried tempura-style alongside vegetables. Red shiso has a more robust, astringent flavor. It’s pickled with umeboshi plums or made into syrups that add color and fragrance to drinks.
Korean perilla leaves (kkaennip) taste quite different. They offer an earthy warmth combined with subtle bitterness, which complements rich dishes like grilled meats. A classic Korean preparation is wrapping a bite of grilled pork or beef in a perilla leaf along with rice, garlic, and chili paste. The leaves are also pickled in soy sauce or fermented as a side dish.
Perilla seeds are pressed into oil that’s popular in Korean cooking, where it’s drizzled over noodles, mixed into sauces, or used to season vegetables. The oil has a distinctive nutty flavor that sets it apart from sesame oil, though the two are sometimes used interchangeably.
Omega-3 Content in Perilla Seed Oil
Perilla seed oil stands out among plant oils for its omega-3 concentration. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid, makes up 47 to 64% of perilla oil’s total fat content, according to USDA research on Korean perilla germplasm. That’s higher than flaxseed oil in many samples, making perilla one of the richest plant sources of omega-3s available. The remaining fatty acids include linoleic acid (an omega-6, at 10 to 24%) and oleic acid (an omega-9, at 9 to 20%).
A commonly suggested dosage for perilla oil supplements is about 3 grams per day, taken either as soft gel capsules or by the teaspoonful. This provides a meaningful dose of ALA, though the body converts plant-based omega-3s into the longer-chain forms (EPA and DHA) found in fish oil at a relatively low rate. Perilla oil is a practical option for people who avoid fish or fish oil but want to increase their omega-3 intake from whole food sources.
Active Compounds and Health Properties
Perilla leaves are rich in rosmarinic acid, a plant compound with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Concentrated extracts of perilla leaves can contain over 400 milligrams of rosmarinic acid per gram, making it one of the more potent natural sources. The leaves also contain apigenin and luteolin, two flavonoids that appear to work together with rosmarinic acid to reduce inflammation.
These compounds work by suppressing the production of inflammatory signaling molecules in the body and reducing the activity of an enzyme involved in the inflammation pathway. In animal studies, perilla leaf extracts lowered levels of several key inflammatory markers and reduced immune cell infiltration into damaged tissue. The combined effect of rosmarinic acid, apigenin, and luteolin appears to be stronger than any single compound alone.
Evidence for Allergy Relief
One of the more promising areas of perilla research involves seasonal allergies. A human clinical trial tested a perilla leaf extract enriched with rosmarinic acid against a placebo in people with mild seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever). The perilla group showed significant improvement in itchy nose, watery eyes, itchy eyes, and overall symptom scores compared to the placebo group. Nasal lavage samples revealed that the extract reduced the number of immune cells (neutrophils and eosinophils) flooding into the nasal passages, which is the mechanism behind the congestion and irritation of hay fever. No adverse events were reported, and routine blood tests showed no abnormalities.
These results suggest perilla extract could serve as a low-cost, well-tolerated option for managing mild seasonal allergy symptoms, though it’s not a replacement for stronger allergy medications in severe cases.
Safety Considerations
Perilla leaves and seeds eaten in normal culinary amounts are safe, as demonstrated by centuries of widespread use across East Asia. However, the plant’s essential oil contains a compound called perilla ketone, which is a potent lung toxin in cattle and laboratory animals. Grazing livestock that eat large quantities of wild perilla can develop fatal pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs). This is primarily a veterinary concern. The amounts of perilla ketone present in the leaves and seeds people eat in cooking are far lower than what causes toxicity in grazing animals, but the compound’s existence has prompted researchers to note that concentrated essential oil preparations deserve caution.
Growing Perilla at Home
Perilla is easy to grow and thrives across USDA hardiness zones 2 through 11 as an annual. It’s winter-hardy only in zones 10 and 11 but grows readily as a warm-season annual everywhere else. The plant performs best in moist, loose, organically rich soil with full sun, though it tolerates light shade. It self-seeds aggressively in many climates, so much so that it’s considered invasive in parts of the southeastern United States. If you plant it in a garden bed, deadheading the flower spikes before they set seed will keep it from spreading beyond where you want it.
Seeds germinate easily when surface-sown after the last frost. The plants grow quickly to 2 or 3 feet tall and produce harvestable leaves within weeks. Both green and purple varieties make attractive ornamental additions to herb gardens, with the purple types offering enough visual interest to work in flower beds alongside ornamental plants.