Categories: flower, pharmaceutical, food additive

Application: Pharmaceutical/Food Additives

Sedative

Hops are the flowers (seed cones) of the hop plant humulus lupulus, native to Europe, western Asia and North America. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor. Due to hops antibacterial effect, it favors the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms.

As a herbal medicine, hops is used for anxiety, inability to sleep (insomnia) and other sleep disorders, restlessness, tension, excitability, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), nervousness and irritability. It can also improve appetite, increase urine flow, start the flow of breast milk, and ease digestion. Other applications include prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, high cholesterol, tuberculosis, bladder infections, intestinal cramps, an intestinal disorder called mucous colitis, nerve pain, and prolonged painful erection of the penis (priapism). Moreover, hops are of interest for hormone replacement therapy and are under basic research for potential relief of menstruation-related problems.