Useful and medicinal properties of hops
Family Cannabis - Cannabinaceae
The generic name comes from the Latin humus - earth, so the plant spreads on the ground if it does not find support. Species definition comes from the Latin lupus - the wolf, as hops entwine and choke other plants.
Botanical description. Perennial dioecious herbaceous plant with a curly left stem up to 3-6 m long. Stems with six ribs, which bear T-shaped spines. Leaves opposite, petiolate, on the upper branches sometimes alternate, three-, five-lobed or separate, upper whole, ovate with cordate base, along margin large-filiform, with pointed teeth;from above dark green, acute, below pale, glandular, veins with sparse, sharp, tenacious spines. Flowers are same-sex, axillary or apical. Staminate flowers in paniculate inflorescences, with 5-membered, yellowish-green perianth, pistillate in capitate or ovate, light green, hanging earrings, 2-3 cm in length. Perianth is not noticeable - calyx. Bracts after flowering grow, forming a copulation - "bumps."The fruit is a keeled, flattened nutlet."Cones" carry yellow glands.
Blossoms in June - July. Fruits ripen in August - September.
Geographic distribution. It grows on raw forests, bushes, river banks, forest swamps. It occurs in the European part of the USSR, in the Caucasus, in Central Asia, Western Siberia, especially in the south, in the Tien Shan and Altai. The plant is introduced into the culture. Widely cultivated, especially in Ukraine, for the needs of the brewing industry.
Collection and drying. Assemble the seeds -
earrings( hoppers) in August, when they start to ripen and have not yet lost the greenish-yellow color. Later they become brownish, dry and crumble after drying. They tear them manually together with the pedicels and pour loose into baskets.
Dry in the shade, often in attics with good ventilation. With slow drying, the fertilization is lost.
Medicinal raw materials. Finished raw materials - haplon fruit( Strobuli Lupuli) consists of the copulations of the described structure. On the leaves of the perianth at the base are sticky, shiny, golden-yellow glands containing a lupulin.
Smell weak, pleasant, taste bitter.
GOST 8473-57 provides for the use in the national economy of three varieties, but for medical needs only raw materials of the first class can be used. Such raw materials should have a color from light yellow-green to golden-green. Allowed "cones" with reddened tips of petals. Lupulin grains should be shiny, sticky, yellow or golden yellow in color. The moisture content is not more than 13%;ash not more than 10%;leaves, stems and other hop parts not more than 0.5%;hop seeds not more than 1,25%.
The content of bitter substances should be at least 15%.
Chemical composition. Lupulin contains up to 2% of yellow-and-red essential oil, 50-70% of tarry substances, about 5% of bitter substances, humulon and lupulon, yellow coloring substance, choline, hypoxanthine, adenine, diterpenum cogumulon, cerotinic and isopropylacrylateacid. The composition of essential oil includes: 15-20% sesquiterpene gumulene, sesquiterpene alcohol luparenol, ketone luparone, isovaleryanoic acid, 30-50% aliphatic terpenes, including myrcene, farnesene and others, 30-40% esters of alcohols mircenola, aliphatic terpenicalcohols geraniol and linalool, etc.
Action and application. Lupulin stimulates appetite, has a calming, diuretic, spasmolytic and a slight analgesic effect, as well as estrogenic activity.
Essential oil of hops is a part of valocardin.
Hops »hops are prescribed as infusion of 5 g
for 200 ml of water 3-4 tablespoons 3-4 times a day as a calming central nervous system, analgesic for cystitis, appetizing and gastric remedy. Infusion is applied and externally in the form of lotions for the treatment of hard-healing wounds.
Hop hood is introduced into the shampoo.
Hop is of great importance in the national economy. In addition to brewing it is used to prepare a special starter( "liquid" yeast) when baking certain breads.
Cones of hops are included in the sedative collection, as well as the charges prescribed for angina pectoris, tachycardia, extrasystolic arrhythmia, neurosis of the heart, neurasthenia, epilepsy, Graves' disease.