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Humulus lupulus

Climber

HomeClimberHumulus lupulus

Hedgerows, woodlands and sunny waste ground.

Family: Cannabidaceae
Height: 6 m / 20 ft
Sun, Semi-shade
Light, Medium and Heavy Soil
Dry to Moist

Plant Rating

Edible Uses: 4 of 5
Medicinal Uses: 5 of 5
Other Uses: 3 of 5

Native Habitat

Hop, Common hop, European Hop, Humulus lupulus native habitat is Hedgerows, woodlands and sunny waste ground.

Edible Uses

Young leaves and young shoots - cooked. The flavour is unique and, to many tastes, delicious. Young leaves can be eaten in salads. Use before the end of May. The leaves contain rutin. The fleshy rhizomes are sometimes eaten. A tea is made from the leaves and cones. It has a gentle calming effect. The dried flowering heads of female plants are used as a flavouring and preservative in beer. They are also medicinal. The flowering heads are sprinkled with bitter-tasting yellow translucent glands, which appear as a granular substance. This substance prevents gram-negative bacteria from growing in the beer or wort. Much of the hop's use as a flavouring and medicinal plant depends on the abundance of this powdery substance. The seeds contain gamma-linolenic acid, an essential fatty acid that is said to have many important functions in the human body and is rarely found in plant sources. The essential oil in the flowering heads is used as a flavouring in cereal beverages and mineral waters. Extracts from the plant, and the oil, are used as flavouring in non-alcoholic beverages, frozen dairy desserts, candy, baked goods and puddings, with the highest average maximum use level of 0.072% reported for an extract used in baked goods.

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