Burdock bedstraw – ingredients, effects and application

Burdock bedstraw is a competitive and globally widespread arable weed. This diverse medicinal plant is easily available because of its strong growth. Burdock herb promotes urination and helps with inflammation and skin diseases. It can also be used in the kitchen as a wild vegetable, but is little known today.

Characteristics

• Scientific name: Galium aparine
• Common names: stickwort, burdock herb, burdock herb
• Family: Red family (Rubiceae)
• Distribution: Originally temperate Eurasia, now worldwide as a neophyte, common in almost all of Europe
• Plant parts used: herb, flowers, leaves and seeds
• Ingredients: Essential oils, coumarins, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides such as asperuloside and saponins, phytosterols such as beta-sitosterol and campesterol, phenolic acids such as caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid
• Areas of application: as a diuretic, to strengthen the immune system, against urinary tract and kidney problems, inflammation, skin diseases and wounds

An overview

• Burdock bedstraw is so called because it clings firmly to plants and animals as well as to human clothing.
• The name bedstraw comes from the fact that these herbs were primarily used to produce vegetable rennet for cheese production.
• The burdock herb is widespread in alluvial forests, in hedges or in fields. Like many widespread neophytes, the plant thrives in ecosystems damaged and/or destroyed by humans.
• Although the plant is both a medicinal herb and a wild vegetable, it is still disliked in the garden and by farmers. The highly competitive herb causes considerable damage and difficulties for the harvest (especially grain).
• Ceadwort is a nitrogen indicator, and nitrogen is abundant in this country due to over-fertilization and exhaust fumes.
• The uses of burdock bedstraw and bedstraw (Galium verum) in folk medicine are almost identical and usually no distinction is made between the species.
• Bedstraw (Galium verum) and woodruff (Galium odoratum) are relatives of the burdock bedstraw and are equally popular herbs with a wide range of uses.

ingredients

Burdock herb contains essential oils, coumarins, tannins, flavonoids and glycosides such as asperuloside and saponins. The phytosterols it contains include beta-sitosterol and campestol, and the phenolic acids include caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid. The plant also provides alkaloids.

How does burdock bedstraw work?

The fungus Candida albicans, which causes illnesses (if it occurs in excess), reacts sensitively to the ingredients of burdock bedstraw. The plant’s potential against pathogenic bacteria and fungi is considered high.

A 2020 study examined burdock herb for its immune-stimulating activity and antioxidant potential. It was shown that analyzed substances significantly increased the activity of the blood cells that build up the immune system. An aqueous extract from the plant proved to be most effective.

All samples also showed antioxidant effects. According to the scientific team, the data would partially justify traditional medicine in which the burdock herb is used for skin infections and wounds. However, further research would need to be carried out to fully confirm this theory.

A review (2018) noted that in previous pharmacological studies, burdock herb extracts have shown anti-microbial and anti-cancer effects and to maintain liver function. Antioxidant properties have also been found. The work concludes that stickwort has great potential as a safe and effective herbal medicine.

Saponins in burdock herb

Active ingredients in sticky herb include saponins. These so-called soap substances have a wealth of potential medical effects. They have a strengthening effect on the human organism as well as increasing blood pressure and immunomodulating.

They also have antimicrobial properties – meaning they keep fungi, bacteria and viruses at bay. They expel urine and have a hormone-stimulating effect. They also help with coughing by loosening mucus. Saponins also lower cholesterol levels by binding to cholesterol and thereby preventing it from being absorbed into the body.

It is also assumed to have a preventive effect against colon cancer. However, no more precise processes are known here and further research is needed.

The effects of the diverse ingredients of burdock bedstraw justify its wide use in traditional medicine and make it an effective medicinal plant even today. (Image: lichtpinzel/stock.adobe.com/own editing heilpraxis.de)

Bedstraw in folk medicine and medical history

In folk medicine, bedstraws were used primarily for bladder and kidney diseases, as well as for complaints of the urinary tract. These plants have a diuretic effect, which means they promote the urge to urinate. Especially among the rural population, the common bedstraws were an easily available and effective remedy for urinary retention and were also used against kidney stones and bladder stones.

Extracts from the above-ground parts are known in folk medicine in Europe, Asia and America for the external treatment of skin diseases. Use in traditional medicine indicates immunomodulatory and antioxidant properties of the plant.

Other uses included juice from the burdock herb, which was applied to eczema or to relieve earaches. An extract should also help against snake bites and taking it against diarrheal diseases. There is a lack of medical evidence for this, and bedstraws are rarely used for such purposes today.

Where does the name bedstraw and stickwort come from?

Galium species contain rennet (milk clotting enzyme), which was previously used in cheese production. This is where the name bedstraw comes from. Today, however, the herbs are rarely used for this purpose.

The name bedstraw refers to its attachment to plants and animals as well as human clothing. There are hooked bristles on the leaves, stems and fruits that can hook on and appear sticky when touched. The bristles enable the plant to climb up (spread climber) along supports – including on neighboring plants.

The seeds also have this adhesive power, so that they can be easily distributed on agricultural land as weeds with straw and green fodder.

Burdock bedstraw or real bedstraw?

In general: In the traditions of folk medicine and also in the medicinal herb books of the early modern period, a distinction is rarely made between the bedstraw (Galium verum) and the burdock herb (Galium aparine).

Both were used almost identically and largely unspecifically: kidney stones, bladder problems and urinary tract infections are different diseases, but in all of them the bedstraw served to increase the urge to urinate.

Another representative of this genus, the woodruff (Galium odoratum), was also used in traditional medicine, for example for inflammation, skin injuries or to promote blood circulation. Today it is also particularly popular in the kitchen and gives a special flavor to sweets and drinks, for example.

Side effects and contraindications

Burdock herb is not only consumed as a medicinal plant, but also in larger quantities as food and is considered to be well tolerated.

No significant problems have been reported when used as a medicinal plant. However, there are no comprehensive studies on this. Therefore, as a precaution, consumption should be avoided during breastfeeding and pregnancy.

Burdock bedstraw tea

Burdock bedstraw is often prepared as a tea in folk medicine. To do this, above-ground parts of the plant are poured with hot water, steeped in it for ten to 15 minutes and then drunk in small sips.

The tea stimulates the urge to urinate and was taken to treat urinary tract diseases, bladder and kidney problems, and urinary retention. This tea is also used in diets.

Sticky cabbage in the kitchen

Burdock bedstraw is rarely found in the kitchen today, although there were a number of recipes using the plant among the rural population. The young shoots have not yet hardened. They can be cooked and steamed as wild vegetables. They can be used as an ingredient, for example, in fillings, soups and stews, as a vegetable side dish, on quiches, pizza or in a tart.

The raw leaves have glandular hairs with hooks and hardly anyone would like to eat them in this form. However, they are pleasant to eat steamed and/or pureed. Raw leaves and flowers are suitable for smoothies.

The roasted seeds were a substitute for coffee when coffee was still a luxury product.

Ecology and occurrence

Burdock bedstraw is an annual and reproduces via seeds. The plant produces these in large quantities and forms them in two-part split fruits.

The term burdock herb or sticky herb also refers to the distribution: the split fruits attach themselves to the skins of animals or clothing of people, and in this way the plant distributes its seeds. Rain and running water also carry the seeds to distant places.

Burdock bedstraw originally grew primarily in the temperate zones of Eurasia. It is very widespread and, as a neophyte, colonized various places where people and their farm animals carried the burdocks with them. Today it is widespread almost worldwide and is often found in almost all of Europe.

Burdock is a semi-light plant and a nitrogen pointer. It grows well in light but also in shade/partial shade. In the wild it typically appears in alluvial forests and river gravel. In addition, it can be found in parks, gardens,…