Hops: Health Benefits, Medicial Uses, Side Effects

Hops are native to the northern temperate climates of Asia, Europe and North America. The plant has been grown for centuries for brewing beer. The drug material comes mainly from Germany, the Czech Republic, the USA and China.

Herbal medicine use of hops

In herbal medicine, the whole dried inflorescences of the female plants (hop cones or lupuli flos/strobulus) are used. The hop glands (Lupuli glandula), which are also used, are the glandular hairs obtained by sieving, which form a sticky secretion.

Typical characteristics of hops

Hops are a perennial climber up to 10 m tall and right-twining, bearing toothed, deeply lobed, rough leaves with long stems. The female flowers are yellowish and are in false spikes that resemble a cone in appearance. In the female inflorescence, large overlapping bracts surround several small flowers. The bracts as well as the flowers have numerous orange to golden yellow glands with resinous secretions.

What to consider when growing

An important principle in hop cultivation is to grow female and male plants separately to prevent fertilization. The female plants are propagated vegetatively. Since hops require a lot of moisture, they are found in the wild mainly near rivers.

Properties of hop cones

Hop cones consist of leaves stacked on top of each other like roof tiles, each bearing two female flowers in its axil. On the leaf pieces you can see the orange-yellow shiny glandular hairs.

Hop cones exude a strong spicy flavor. The taste of hops is bitter and spicy.