Antimicrobial Effects of the Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioica L.).

Review

Abstract

Nowadays increasing attention is being paid to herbs, one of the reasons is to avoid the undesirable side effects of synthetic drugs. This is the reason why the analysis of the antimicrobial activities of medicinal plants are increasingly in the focus of scientific experiments as well. One of the best-known medicinal plants is nettle. Among the nettle species in Hungary, Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.) can be found in the country and is most commonly utilised for medical purposes, with a focus on its leaves and roots. Nettle tea consumption is widespread in folk medicine for treating diabetes, allergies, abdominal pain, benign prostatic hyperplasia, rheumatoid arthritis and treatment of infections.

This study gives a widespread summary of the reseach results about the antimicrobal impact of Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica L.) in the scientific literature. The papers documented a positive effect of nettle for more than 30 Gram positive and Gram negative bacterias, yeasts and fungis.