What is Hops?

 

Hops are the female flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine.

 

What are some uses?

 

In foods and beverages, the extracts and oil are used as flavor components. Hops are also used in brewing beer...used as salad greens, and in soups, wine, and teas. The roasted root is used as a coffee substitute In manufacturing, the extract is used in skin creams and lotions.

 

Medicinal benefits of Hops

 

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 is also used to improve appetite, increase urine flow, start the flow of breast milk, as a bitter tonic, and for indigestion. Other uses includeprostate 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.

Hops is sometimes applied to the skin for leg ulcers and as an antibacterial agent.

 

Other names used:

 

Asperge Sauvage, Common Hops, Couleuvrée, Couleuvrée Septentrionale, European Hops, Hop, Hop Strobile, Hopfenzapfen, Houblon, Humulus lupulus, Lupuli Strobulus, Lupulin, Lúpulo, Pi Jiu Hua, Salsepareille Indigène, Vigne du Nord.