Biological Activities of Stinging Nettle
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2010
Yazarlar: Fatma YURT
DRUG PLANTS I, SCI Expanded İndekslerine Giren Dergi, Uluslararası, 2010, cilt 27, ss 391-409
Özet
Urtica dioica, commonly called stinging nettle, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant, native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best known member of the nettle genus Urtica. Originally from the colder regions of northern Europe and Asia, today this herbaceous shrub grows all over the world. Stinging nettles are a dioecious herbaceous perennial, the soft green leaves are 3-15 cm long, with a strongly serrated margin, a cordate base and an acuminate tip. Stinging nettle is available as dried leaf as tea, and as root tincture, It is rich in vitamins A,C,D, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. Nettle leaf extract contains active compound that reduce TNF-alpha and other inflammatory cytokines. Stinging nettle has a long medicinal history, Stinging nettle has been used for hundreds of years to treat rheumatism, eczema, arthritis, gout, and anemia. Today, many people use it to treat urinary problems during the early stages of an enlarged prostate, for urinary tract infections, for kidney stones, for hay fever, or in compresses or creams for treating joint pain, sprains and strains, tendonitis, and insect bites.