Researchers are brewing up medicines from beer hops

(credit: Paul Miller)

While beer connoisseurs have mixed and heated opinions about the trend of ever-more hoppy beers, some researchers just can’t get enough of the bitter buds.

Their keen interest stems from the potentially untapped medicinal properties of the flowers. Traditional medicine has long used hops for everything from sedation to combatting infections. And researchers have noted that the plant’s chemical constituents appear to have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anti-cancer activities. Yet chemists are still working out all the chemicals responsible for the potentially therapeutic effects and how to use them to brew up new medicines.

Now, with two new studies, researchers report that they’re getting closer to pinning down and optimizing hop-based medicines.

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