Objective: To explore the effects of volatiles and negative air ions released from living coriander plants on mood and sleep of college students, and to provide experimental evidence for the use of edible aromatic vegetables to improve the mood and sleep of college students. Methods: In April 2021, a within subjects design with two environmental conditions, with and without living coriander plants, was used to measure changes in subjective mood, sleep indicators and salivary hormone levels in 13 male college students recruited from Beihang University, and the correlation between salivary hormones and sleep indicators was analyzed. Results: Living coriander plants significantly increased the concentration of negative air ions in the environment ( t =627.54, P < 0.01 ), and the main components of the volatiles were d limonene (21.44%), isophorone (15.88%), benzyl alcohol (12.30%) and α pinoresinol (10.77%). In the environment with living coriander plants, the subjects subjective positive emotion increased significantly ( t=2.32, P <0.05), the degree of subjective insomnia decreased significantly ( t=-2.54, P =0.03), and the percentage of deep sleep and REM sleep increased significantly ( t=2.50, 2.87, P <0.05). In addition, the content of salivary melatonin was significantly negatively correlated with the score of Insomnia Severity Index ( r =-0.43, P =0.03). Conclusion The volatiles and negative air ions released from living coriander plants had a significant positive effect on mood and sleep of college students.