What effect has the mullein?
In the past, mullein was also called woolly herb, woolly flower or torch flower. Studies showed both antiviral and antibacterial properties of the medicinal plant.
Mullein flowers are used as a traditional herbal medicine for colds to relieve symptoms such as cough or sore throat. In combination with other medicinal plants, they can loosen stuck mucus in the respiratory tract so that it can be coughed up more easily. At the end of the 18th century, mullein was also a very popular remedy for tuberculosis in Europe and the United States.
Valuable ingredients
The effective ingredients in mullein flowers include mainly mucilages and saponins. The mucilages have an irritation-relieving effect on inflamed mucous membranes, while the saponins have secretion-dissolving properties. Other ingredients are iridoids – they have an anti-inflammatory effect.
Mullein oil
Folk medicine use
Folk medicine still uses the medicinal plant for other ailments:
- Used internally, mullein is said to help with rheumatism, bladder and kidney complaints, for example.
- External use is recommended for inflammatory, itchy skin diseases and insect bites, among others.
Here, however, scientific studies are lacking that prove these effects and exclude possible side effects. Therefore, for such ailments, prefer to use medicinal plants with recognized efficacy in these areas.
How to take mullein?
As a tea, powder or capsule: There are several ways to take mullein.
Mullein as a home remedy
The flowers of the large-flowered mullein (Verbascum densiflorum), but also those of the small-flowered mullein (V. thapsus) and the felt mullein (V. phlomoides) are used medicinally.
To relieve cold symptoms, you can prepare a tea: Pour three to four teaspoons (1.5 to 2 grams) of finely chopped, dried mullein flowers over one cup (150 ml) of boiling water and strain after 10 to 15 minutes. You can drink a cup several times a day, and the recommended daily dose for adults is three to four grams of dried flowers.
When preparing tea, you can also add other medicinal plants. For example, marshmallow, licorice and anise fit well.
Home remedies based on medicinal plants have their limits. If your symptoms persist for a long time and do not improve or even get worse despite treatment, you should always consult a doctor.
Ready-made preparations with mullein
Ready-made tea mixtures from the pharmacy often contain mullein flowers along with other medicinal plants, for example “cold tea” and “cough tea”.
Products with mullein oil and other ready-made preparations are available in health food stores, drugstores and pharmacies.
What side effects can mullein cause?
There are no known side effects for mullein flowers. However, some people have an allergic reaction to skin contact with mullein oil.
Woolly mullein is non-toxic to humans.
What you should keep in mind when using mullein
- If you collect mullein flowers yourself, be sure to dry them quickly and then protect them from moisture. Incorrectly dried or stored flowers, in fact, mold very quickly. They must then no longer be used.
- Your doctor or pharmacist will tell you how to dose mullein in children.
How to obtain mullein products
You can obtain dried mullein flowers and ready-made preparations in your pharmacy and well-stocked drugstores. For proper use and dosage, please read the respective package insert and ask your doctor or pharmacist.
What is mullein?
Mullein (genus: Verbascum) has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times. The biennial plant forms only a basal rosette of leaves in the first year. The woolly hairs on the leaves, which have entire margins, probably gave the plant its common name of “woolly flower”.
From the rosette of leaves develops in the second year a sometimes branched flower stalk, which depending on the species can grow to over two meters high. The yellow, slightly asymmetrical flowers are in clusters in a long spike cluster. The flowering period lasts from July to September.
True or small-flowered mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is native to central and southern Europe and central Asia, and is also naturalized in North and South America, New Zealand, and Africa.
