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

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

doi:10.3390/molecules27165219

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

Molecules. 2022 Aug 16;27(16):5219. doi: 10.3390/molecules27165219.

Authors

Hari Prasad Devkota^{1

2

3}, Keshav Raj Paudel⁴, Shristi Khanal⁵, Ananda Baral⁵, Nisha Panth⁴, Anjana Adhikari-Devkota¹, Niraj Kumar Jha⁶, Niranjan Das⁷, Sachin Kumar Singh⁸, Dinesh Kumar Chellappan⁹, Kamal Dua^{10

11

12}, Philip M Hansbro⁴

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan.
² Headquarters for Admissions and Education, Kumamoto University, Kurokami, 2-39-1, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan.
³ Pharmacy Program, Gandaki University, Pokhara 33700, Nepal.
⁴ Centre for Inflammation, Centenary Institute and University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Science, School of Life Sciences, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
⁵ College of Pharmacy, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-ro, Gyeongsan 38541, Korea.
⁶ Department of Biotechnology, School of Engineering and Technology, Sharda University, Greater Noida 201310, India.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Ramthakur College, Badharghat, Agartala 799003, India.
⁸ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, India.
⁹ Department of Life Sciences, School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia.
¹⁰ Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
¹¹ Faculty of Health, Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
¹² Uttaranchal Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun 248007, India.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Urtica dioica; anti-bacterial; anti-inflammatory; anti-ulcer; antioxidant; nettle; nutraceuticals; stinging nettle.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anti-Inflammatory Agents / chemistry
Plant Extracts / chemistry
Plant Leaves / chemistry
Urtica dioica* / chemistry
Urticaceae*

Substances

Anti-Inflammatory Agents
Plant Extracts

Grants and funding

Philip M. Hansbro is funded by a fellowship and grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia (1059238, 1175134, 2010287), and UTS. Keshav Raj Paudel is supported by a joint fellowship from Prevent Cancer Foundation and International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), USA.