Hop

Native to the Northern Hemisphere, hops are fast-growing climbing plants that can reach up to 10 meters in height. This herbaceous perennial is found primarily in Europe, western Asia, and North America. Hops thrive in rich, moist soils, making them dioecious. Like hemp, the male and female organs are found on separate plants. The plant is therefore unisexual.

Generally grown on trellises, hops climb along them, clinging to them with their large, green, toothed leaves composed of 3 to 5 lobes. They flower from June to September. The female flowers are greenish and contain the ingredient used in herbal medicine: lupulin. This resinous material can be used in various forms for therapeutic purposes.

Hildegard of Bingen (1099-1179) discovered the disinfecting properties and the conservative effect of hops which allowed producers to store the beer for longer periods of time. Before his discovery, barley ale was the brew of choice, produced from a mixture of herbs and spices.

The Amerindians made infusions with hop flowers mainly to calm nervousness or insomnia. They also used them to make poultices for pain relief.

• Franchomme, P., Jollois, R,. Pénoël, D., L’aromathérapie exactement, Encyclopédie de l’utilisation thérapeutique des huiles essentielles, fondements, démonstration, illustration et applications d’une science médicale naturelle, Bayeux, Éditions Roger Jollois, 2001.
• Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 1998.

• https://www.dieti-natura.com/plantes-actifs/houblon.html

• https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/herbalgram/issues/87/table-of-contents/article3559/

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jib.160