Biomaterial Database

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica L.): Nutritional Composition, Bioactive Compounds, and Food Functional Properties. 2022

Hari Prasad Devkota, and Keshav Raj Paudel, and Shristi Khanal, and Ananda Baral, and Nisha Panth, and Anjana Adhikari-Devkota, and Niraj Kumar Jha, and Niranjan Das, and Sachin Kumar Singh, and Dinesh Kumar Chellappan, and Kamal Dua, and Philip M Hansbro

Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan.

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L., Urticaceae) is commonly found in Asia, Africa, and Europe and has a long history of being used as food and traditional medicine. Recently, this plant is gaining attention as a highly nutritious food, where fresh leaves are dried and used as powder or in other forms. Leaves are rich in many bioactive compounds. This review aims to cover the traditional uses in food and medicine, as well as its nutritional composition, including its bioactive chemical constituents and reported food functional activities. Various bioactive chemical constituents have been isolated from stinging nettle to date, such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, amino acid, carotenoids, and fatty acids. Stinging nettle extracts and its compounds, such as rutin, kaempferol, and vitamin A, are also used for their nutritional properties and as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents. Future studies should focus on the proper formulation and stability testing of the functional foods containing stinging nettle and their detailed activities in clinical studies.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010936	Plant Extracts	Concentrated pharmaceutical preparations of plants obtained by removing active constituents with a suitable solvent, which is evaporated away, and adjusting the residue to a prescribed standard.	Herbal Medicines,Plant Extract,Extract, Plant,Extracts, Plant,Medicines, Herbal
D000893	Anti-Inflammatory Agents	Substances that reduce or suppress INFLAMMATION.	Anti-Inflammatory Agent,Antiinflammatory Agent,Agents, Anti-Inflammatory,Agents, Antiinflammatory,Anti-Inflammatories,Antiinflammatories,Antiinflammatory Agents,Agent, Anti-Inflammatory,Agent, Antiinflammatory,Agents, Anti Inflammatory,Anti Inflammatories,Anti Inflammatory Agent,Anti Inflammatory Agents
D018515	Plant Leaves	Expanded structures, usually green, of vascular plants, characteristically consisting of a bladelike expansion attached to a stem, and functioning as the principal organ of photosynthesis and transpiration. (American Heritage Dictionary, 2d ed)	Plant Leaf,Leaf, Plant,Leave, Plant,Leaves, Plant,Plant Leave
D026982	Urtica dioica	A plant species of the genus Urtica, family URTICACEAE. Roots have been used to treat PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA. Leaves are edible after the stinging quality is eliminated by brief heating.	Nettle, Stinging,Stinging Nettle,Nettles, Stinging,Stinging Nettles,Urtica dioicas,dioica, Urtica
D027003	Urticaceae	The nettles plant family of the order ROSALES, superorder ROSANAE, and class MAGNOLIOPSIDA. Many have stinging hairs on stems and leaves with flowers that are small and greenish in leaf axils. The fruit is dry and one-seeded.	Cecropiaceae,Musanga,Myrianthus