hop; folk names – khmelina, vinnytsya, gіmey.
Cannabis family – Cannabaceae.
For therapeutic purposes, seedlings (“cones”) of hops are used.
Distributed almost throughout the entire territory of the Ukrainian SSR, often found in the Carpathians, Carpathians, Polissya, quite common in the Forest-Steppe, occasionally in the Steppe (except for the extreme south) and in the mountainous part of the Crimea. It grows in damp places, along the banks of rivers, swamps, in forests on forest edges and in shrubs. In the western part of Ukraine it is widely cultivated. The stocks of raw materials of wild-growing hops are not so significant to fully satisfy the need for it, since the plant is used not only in medicine, but also in large quantities in the food and brewing industries, therefore, cultivated hops are mainly harvested.
Common hop is a perennial, herbaceous, climbing plant up to 5 m high. The leaves are opposite, palmate, 3-5-lobed, with a heart-shaped base and pointed, large-serrate lobes. The flowers are small, unisexual, the plant is dioecious – pistillate and staminate flowers develop on different specimens. Staminate flowers with 5-leaved green or whitish within the flower bed, collected in paniculate inflorescences, pistillate with a single leaf within the flower bed, located two in the axils of the integumentary leaves and collected in cone-shaped spikelets, the scales of which are tile-like covering each other. When the fruits ripen, they subsequently increase greatly. The fruits, within the flower bed on the outside and the outer leaves at the base on the inner plane, have yellow glands. Blooms in July-August.
Harvest “cones” at the beginning of ripening (August-early September), plucking with your hands when they are still greenish-yellow in color. They dry quickly in the open air, in attics or under sheds with good ventilation, spreading them in a thin layer on burlap or paper. The best raw materials are obtained by drying in dryers.
According to OST 528, the dried raw material consists of individual or several “cones” collected on thin stalks with open scales attached to a solid rod, with or without achenes. “Cones” dark brown or brown; fruits from light brown to dark brown. The smell is weak, characteristic; the taste is a little tart, the humidity is not more than 12%.
Allowed in raw materials: no more than (percent): decayed cones – 3, cones with stalks longer than 1 cm (but not more than 1.5 cm) – 3, hop stalks – 1, parts of other plants – 0.5, mineral impurities – 1 .
Packed in double bags or bast bags weighing 120 kg. Store in a dry, well-ventilated area.
The glands located on the component parts of the fruit (“cones”) during maturation are easily separated. By shaking off the “cones” and sifting, a greenish-yellow powder from the glands is obtained, called lupulin. The latter is used as a sedative for cystitis and frequent urge to urinate, as well as to improve appetite. Outwardly, hops are used in the form of poultices, as an analgesic, and in the form of ointments for painful ulcers.